Dreaming of You
by Condor5
Summary: Two weeks have past since the events of 'Dream a little dream of me' and school is starting. Hermione is finally making an apperance, and she seems to have some interest in Harry (in the romance sense) as well. What will happen now?
1. Start of school

**A/N: **After the review by gw4e, I thought that I would give it a try again and see if lightning would strike three times. This take place after the events of both 'What dreams may come' and 'Dream a little dream of me'. Please tell me what you think of it. Please… Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 1

Start of School

  Hermione Granger stepped down from the Hogwarts Express, lugging her huge trunk, filled with the books from first-year to fifth-year books, down the train. Or rather, she was trying, but the task was simply too big for her. Stopping to take a breather, she looked around in hope of finding someone kind-hearted enough to help her, but most of the students had already leave the station, save only one or two still chatting away, completely ignoring her. Hermione sighed and dropped down on the truck.

  "Great." She murmured. "The one time Harry and Ron wasn't here, this have to happen to me…"

  Two weeks back, Hermione had received a letter from Dumbledore telling her that both Harry and Ron had gone to Hogwarts earlier, and that they would meet her at the station. Well, here she was at the station, and they were nowhere to be found. What a nice welcome. And she was so eager to see her best friends again too. Especially Harry… So eager, in fact, that she had somehow managed to fall asleep in the train and had ended up being the last to leave the train, thus her current situation.

  "Having problems, mudblood?" A voice said smugly. Hermione groaned. Of all the people that could have remained behind, why must it be him? Why? Why? Why?

  "Soot off, Malfoy." Hermione said wearily. "I'm not in a mood to deal with you now."

  Draco Malfoy stood in front of Hermione with his two bodyguards at his side, smiling his irritating smile, the one that always make Hermione want to smack him.

  "Come on now. I'm here out of the goodness of my heart." Draco said with a smug, placing one hand over his heart. "To help you. I saw you looking for help just now."

  "Thanks, but no thanks." Hermione said primly. "I'll rather not be in your debt."

  "I'm hurt!" Draco took a few steps back, clenching his heart in mock pain. "The lady hath rejecteth me! Oh the pain!"

  "Quit it, Malfoy." Hermione said, shaking her head slowly. "I'm not impressed."

  "Indeed." Said Draco with another small smile. "However, I must insist." With that, Draco lifted his wand. A swish and a flick later, Hermione was on the ground, with her truck floating above her.

  "That is not funny, Malfoy!" Hermione said, glaring at him while getting up to her feet. "Give me back my truck."

  "Of course." Draco laughed. "If you can catch me!"

  He turned to walk back to the castle, still laughing, and found himself staring at a wand, held at chest level. His eyes followed the wand up the arm, hidden in the black Hogwarts robes, into a pair of bright green eyes.

  "Well, well, well. The hero appeared to save the damsel." Draco mocked, waving his wand around, making the truck jump about in the air dangerously. "What a surprise."

  "Drop it, Malfoy." Ron said from beside Harry, who was holding the wand. He was fingering his own wand, contemplating if he should just blast him, to hell with the rules, or not.

  "Drop what?" Draco asked, one eyebrow arched. "This?" He gestured at the floating truck, still happily bopping around.

  "Yes. That." Harry grinded from between clenched teeth, his wand still pointed at Draco's chest.

  "Sure." Draco shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a joke anyway." He released the truck from the spell, and it immediately dropped like a rock. Just before it reached the floor, however, it suddenly bounded a little before settling on the ground. 

  "Nice cushion charm, Granger." Draco drawled as he watched the trunk fall. "Saved the lives of your books."

  "Get out of here now, Malfoy." Harry said, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Before I curse you to all the way to next week."

  "As if you can do that, Potter." Draco replied.

  Harry did not make any replies, he just stared at Draco, his ward still lifted threateningly.

  "Let's go." Draco said shortly, suddenly dropping the smiling mask, matching Harry's eyes glare for glare. "Your time is limited, Potter. I suggest you make the most of it before the Dark Lord kill you." With that, Draco wheeled about and stalked off, Crabbe and Goyle hurrying after him. Harry watched him walk out of sight before turning to Hermione.

  "Are you alright?" Hermione nodded with a smile, before she turned to Ron, a dangerous look on her face.

  "What are you thinking of, asking Malfoy to drop my trunk from that height?" She yelled at Ron.

  "Huh? Did I do something wrong?" Ron asked, confused.

  "If I didn't catch it with the cushion charm, all my things would have been broken!" Hermione continued, her volume and pitch now enough to ratter the windows of the train behind.

  "But, but I…" Ron stuttered, taken aback by the sudden wave of words by Hermione.

  "When we get to Hogwarts, I'm going to drop your trunk. See if you like that!" Hermione concluded with a small smile. She turned to Harry. "Come on, let's get going. We'll be late if we stick around here any longer."

  "Wha… Wait a minute." Ron's brain had finally caught what Hermione just said. "Why are you dropping my trunk? What does my trunk got to do with anything."

  "You asked Malfoy to drop mine, so I do the same to yours. That's fair, isn't it?" Hermione said in a reasonable tone.

  "Yeah… that's true…" Ron said, trailing off. "Wait a minute. That doesn't seem right."

  "Alright, alright." Harry suddenly stood between the two of them. "I take my hats off you. Barely five minutes after you two meet, and you are quarreling already."

  "Just glad to see you guys after so long." Hermione answered with a smile. "We better get going. The feast is about to start."

  "Alright then." Ron started up the path to Hogwarts, his eyes alight at the prospect of food.

  "Wait a minute." Hermione said, crossing her arms.

  "What?" Ron asked gruffly. He _really_ wanted to get to the feast.

  "Aren't you _guys_ forgetting something?" Hermione asked, pointing to her trunk.

  "Oh yeah." Harry said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Come on, Ron. The faster we get this in, the faster we can eat."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Ginny sat, all alone, at the Gryffindor's common room. It was almost time for the Start-of-the-Term Feast, but Ginny didn't really want to go down at this point. The reason is very simple. Hermione.

  Ginny sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on it. How could she have forgotten about her? Didn't they decide to wait and see who Harry would chose? And yet, now she's Harry's girlfriend. How on earth is she going to explain this to Hermione? For the past two weeks, Ginny had been trying not to think about this question, but now that Hermione is coming, it couldn't be delay any longer. She could still remember the talk they had last year, while Harry was still sleeping under the influence of the sleeping potion after the disastrous Triwizard Tournament…

|---|---|---|

  _"Are you alright? Hermione?" Ginny asked softly as she sat down next to Hermione in the hospital wing, watching over Harry. Hermione looked up, tears standing in bloodshot eyes, before she wiped them off with her sleeve and gave Ginny a watery grin. _

_  "I'm fine." Hermione said, just as softly, before turning to look at Harry._

_  "How's Harry?" Ginny asked, a little awkwardly. The hospital wing was deserted, only the two of them and Harry was there. The silence was more than a little deafening._

_  "Still sleeping." Hermione answered, without taking her eyes off Harry. He looked so peaceful there, but they knew it was only due to the sleeping potion that Harry had taken. If not for the potion, Harry would still be fighting in his nightmare._

_  They sat there for a few more minutes, neither able to think of anything to say. Finally Hermione broke the silence. _

_  "Hey, Ginny." She said._

_  "Yes?" _

_  "Do you… still like Harry?"_

_  Silence…_

_  "Ginny?" Hermione sounded a little concerned. _

_  "I… really don't know…"_

_  "Oh…"_

_  "I mean…" Ginny continued. "It doesn't seem like last time, when I just seemed to lose my mind in his presence." Ginny smiled a little at the memory of her putting her elbow in the butter, just before starting her first year at Hogwarts._

_  "Really…so, how is it like now?" Hermione asked._

_  "… When Harry disappeared just now, at the Tournament, and didn't appear for so long, I started to worry. Every minute that went by only add to that worry, till it was all I could do to stay in my place and not go into the maze to look for him myself…"_

_  Hermione did not say anything; she just sat there looking at Ginny._

_  "And when he finally appeared, I was so relived, I felt as if all the wound up energy of being nervous had just leaked away, leaving me without any strength. Then Mad-Eye Moody took him away, and I suddenly wanted to be close to him. I tried to follow, but the prefects had blocked off the area, so I had to sneak in here just now."_

_  Ginny stopped suddenly, aware that she had been the one doing the talking this whole time, conscious of Hermione's look at her._

_  "Sorry, I was blabbering." Ginny said, bowing her head._

_  "Don't worry about it." Hermione said. "But you know, I felt more or less the same as you, so I understand what you feel…"_

_  "Really…?" Ginny was surprised. "But I thought… you and Ron…?"_

_  "You and everyone else." Hermione laughed softly. "But… no. I don't like Ron that way. We are just friends."_

_  "Oh… I see." Ginny replied. "Ron is going to be disappointed."_

_  "Why's that?" _

_  "You don't know? He had a crush on you."_

_  "Really?" Hermione thought about it for a while. "So that's why he was acting all weird at the Yule Ball…"_

_  Ginny shook her head slowly. "You must be just about the last to know… well, other than Harry here. He's just about the densest person I've ever seen when it comes to things like that."_

_  As if the mention of Harry was some kind of switch, both of them stopped talking and turned to look at Harry's sleeping face. After a few more minutes, Hermione sighed and turned to Ginny._

_  "So… What are we going to do about this?" She asked. _

_  "About what?"_

_  "Well, Harry."_

_  "Oh…You like Harry that way?" Ginny asked tentatively._

_  Hermione nodded._

_  Silence…_

_  "I think it's better if we let Harry chose." Ginny said finally. "I mean, he might not even like us."_

_  "Yeah… Last I heard, Harry is still mooing over Cho Chang."_

_  "Besides, I don't think Harry will be interested in a relationship now. He has a lot on his mind now…"_

_  "You're right." Hermione said with a sigh. "So we wait."_

_  "Yeah…"_

|---|---|---|

  What should she do? How is she going to tell Hermione? Ginny was almost ready to tear out her hair in frustration. Suddenly a scrapping sound was heard, as the Fat Lady swung open, followed by the loud voice of Ron and Hermione's laugher. They have arrived.


	2. Toilet Hideout

**N/A: **Sorry for the very long delay, but I have exams to prepare and that leaves me very little time to write. The fact that I have completely no idea how to continue the last chapter didn't help matters either. Anyway. Thanks to all who reviewed. It's always nice to hear good things about something you write. 

  One question. Do you people want the ships to remain as they are, or to change? I had one asking for G/H and another asking for H/H. Which one would you prefer? Tell me in a review, please. Comments and suggestions about this chapter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 2

Toilet Hideout

  '_Something is wrong_' was the first thought Harry had as he stepped into the common room with Ron carrying Hermione's trunk on their shoulders. He didn't really know why he felt that way. Maybe it's the way Ginny stood, in the middle of the common room. It somehow reminded Harry of a rabbit, or something similar, just one step from bolting away. Maybe it's the way Ginny had her fist clenched so tight that her fist was white. Or perhaps it's the worry and apprehension that was chasing each other around her face. In any case, it's obvious to Harry that Ginny was very nervous about something.

  Ginny took a deep breath. '_Okay. This shouldn't be too hard. Just go up to Hermione and tell her._' She thought to herself, trying to encourage herself. Before she could lose what little courage she had left, Ginny walked up to Hermione.

  "_Did something awful happen?_" Hermione wondered in her mind as she watched Ginny walk towards her. The atmosphere within the common room had been so serious it was almost scary. '_Was there an attack?_' A chill seems to settle in her stomach as she thought that. '_Was it someone I know?_' As she was thinking that, Ginny reached her and said in a small voice. "Can… Can I talk to you, please?"

  Ron looked on as his baby sister walked up to Hermione and whisper something to her. Hermione replied with a nod and said to them. "Wait for us here a moment, will you. Ginny and I have something to discuss."

  "Sure." Harry replied. He placed the trunk onto the floor, Ron following suit.

  "Whatever is that?" Ron asked as he watched Ginny and Hermione walk away to the far corner.

  "I have no idea, Ron." Harry answered. "It's got to be something serious, though. I don't think I've ever seen Ginny look like that before."

  "I have." Ron replied. "When she had done something really bad."

  "But what could she have done that would be that bad?" Harry asked.

  "No idea." Ron answered. "But we could always ask them when they return."

~~~~~~~~~~

  "What is it, Ginny?" Hermione was puzzled. Why was Ginny so nervous? It couldn't have been an attack or she would have told them all instead of pulling her to one corner. Unless it's something even worse…

  "Em… Well… it's about Harry…" Ginny began hesitantly. God, She was so nervous. She felt as if her heart would jump out of her chest or something, it was beating so hard.

  "What about Harry?" Hermione asked sharply. "Did something happen to him?" If something happened to him…

  "No, no." Ginny shook her head. "Nothing happened to him."

 Hermione breathed a sigh of relive. "Then what is it?"

  "Well… Harry and I are… sort of together…" Ginny said in a rush, the words almost tumbling over each other. 

  Hermione blinked. "What?" That couldn't mean what she thought it mean…

  "Harry agreed to be my boyfriend..." Ginny said miserably, her eyes downcast. '_This is it. Hermione's going to hate me now…_'

  "Really?" Hermione remarked, her voice surprisingly calm. A little too calm, if that's possible. 

  "You… you're not angry?" Ginny was shocked, to say the least. Here she's been thinking of how Hermione would kill her when she broke the news to her and Hermione acted like it was nothing.

  "You didn't use a love potion on Harry, did you." Hermione asked in that same calm tone. 

  "Of course not!" Ginny exclaimed. "Who do you think I am?" But Ginny was beginning to feel that there was something wrong with Hermione. Even if Hermione didn't like Harry, which Ginny knew for a fact that she does, she would have had some reaction.

  "Then I have no cause for anger." Hermione replied in that same calm voice that was beginning to worry Ginny. "Excuse me. I need to use the toilet." With that, Hermione turned and ran past the two surprised boys and out of the common room. Ginny cursed softly as she realized that her suspicion was correct. Hermione was in shock.

  "Hey, what did you talk to Hermione about?" Ron yelled from across the room. "Why did she just run out of the common room looking like she's ready to cry?"

  "What?" Ginny yelled back. "She was crying?"

  "No, but she's about to." Harry answered.

  "How do you know that?" Ginny asked curiously. 

  "When you're friends with someone for almost five years, you know." Harry replied quietly.

  "Oh dear…" Ginny murmured as her brain went into high gear mode.

  "Ginny! What's going on?" Ron asked in a clueless voice. 

  "Harry, I need to talk to you." Ginny said, ignoring Ron completely. Before Harry could answer, Ginny had already pulled him though the portal, which Hermione had left open.

  "Great. What a great day." Ron complained to no one in particular, as the common room was now completely empty. "Now how am I suppose to move this darn trunk all by myself???" 

~~~~~~~~~~

  Hermione ran along the corridor, trying to wipe up her tears that were threatening to fall anytime. She needed to find a bathroom quick so that she could fix her face. She didn't particularly want the whole school to know that she, Hermione Granger, the school bookworm, had almost cried over Harry Potter, her best friend because he chose Ginny Weasley rather than her.

  "Hey, Mudblood!" A familiar and hated voice came from somewhere in front of her. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" It was, of course, Draco Malfoy, alone for a change.

  "None of your damn business." Hermione snapped. She _really_ didn't want to deal with Malfoy now.

  "Manners, Granger." Draco said in a mock teacher's voice. "Good little girls shouldn't swear out loud."

  "Out of my way, Malfoy!" Hermione said angrily as she shoved past him roughly. She was just about to continue on when she felt a jerk from her arm. Malfoy had caught hold of one of her arms, preventing her from walking away.

  "Now look here, Granger." Draco said in a superior tone. "Don't you at least say sorry when you knock into people?"

  "Let go of me!" Hermione yelled, twisting her hand to try to pull it out of Draco's grip. 

  "Now, now." Draco said, still in his superior mode. "You'll only hurt yourself if you continue."

  "What do you think you're doing?!" A voice roared from behind them. Hermione's eyes widen as she recognized Harry's voice. She gave one final desperate pull and managed to free herself. She was out of sight in another moment, having ducked into a nearby room. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  "What's going on, Ginny?" Harry panted as pounded along the corridors of Hogwarts, Ginny slightly ahead of him, intent on catching up with Hermione. "What did you two talk about?"

  "Explain… later…" Ginny replied shortly, having little breath to spare for conversation.

  A sudden yell was heard ahead of them. '_Hermione!_' Harry's brain yelled at him. Without thinking, Harry lunched himself around the corner just in time to see Hermione struggling with Malfoy. "What do you think you're doing?!" Harry roared at Malfoy. "_Stupefy!_"

  The spell arc its way to strike Draco's body, which allow Hermione to pull her arm away from Draco. She did not stay behind though. In another instant she was gone, having disappeared behind some door. Draco's body tittered for a moment longer before falling face down on the floor with a loud crash.

  "What happened, Harry?" Ginny asked as she rounded the corner, nearly banging into Harry's back. "I heard you stunning someone."

  "Malfoy." Harry said shortly, still shaking slightly from the adrenalin rush. He pocketed his wand that had somehow appeared in his hands when he cast the spell.

  Ginny groaned. "What did he do this time?" 

  "He…" Harry paused as he heard a soft _patter-pat _that always preceded Mrs. Norris. "Damn. No time for that now. We better hide." Harry whispered urgently. 

  Ginny nodded. "This way." She said, pointing to a nearby door. Without farther ado, they both dived in, Harry closing the door softly behind him. He leaned forward and placed his ears to the wooden door, hoping to hear Mrs. Norris walking away. To his disappointment, Mrs. Norris' footsteps stopped in front of the door, as if she could somehow sense Harry behind the wooden barrier. Beside him, Harry heard Ginny curse softly under her breath and was momentarily surprised by the eloquence of her speech. Then he heard her teeth clamp together as another sound entered their ears.

  "What is it, my pretty?" the voice of Filch was heard from beyond the door. Ginny began swearing again, still almost too soft to be heard though. 

  A meow was heard, followed by a soft scratching sound, like claws on cloth. 

  "What's this? A student Stunned?" Filch's voice said. "Wonder who did. No matter. I better bring him to the hospital wing. You sniff around some more, my sweets. They may be hiding somewhere." With that, they heard Filch grunted as he lifted Draco's body and his slow, heavy footsteps as Filch made his way to the hospital wing. Mrs. Norris meowed a couple more times before her footsteps could be heard moving away from the door.

  Harry gave a huge sight of relive and sank to the ground. He felt suddenly drained, as the tense muscles loosen and relaxed. Beside him, Ginny was also on the floor. At the thought of their close escape, Ginny gave a small chuckle. Before long, Harry too joined in, and the room rang with laughter.

  "Man, I would love to see Filch's face just now." Harry said through his laughter. "A body Stunned in the middle of the corridor, and no one in sight. How bewildered he must look."

  "I'm just glad he didn't decide to look inside this room. We might have a little problem explaining why we're so near a Stunned student." Ginny replied, also getting her laughter back in control.

  "We could always say we're snogging." Harry said with a twinkle in his eyes. 

  "We snogging?" Ginny exclaimed. "To date, we have kissed a grand total of two time. How does that count as snogging?"

  Harry suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. "I'm sorry… But I'm really not used to it."

  "Don't worry about it." Ginny waved his apologies aside. "I know you haven't had anyone touch you in a way that's not hitting for almost the whole of your life. Believe me. I understand."

  Harry smiled at that. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

  Ginny returned his smile before getting to her feet. "Well, we better go find Hermione before the rest of the house return."

  Harry nodded and stood up himself. But before he could pull open the door, a voice stopped them.

  "There's no need to go looking for me. I'm here." It was Hermione's voice.

  Harry turned around, taking in the room as he did. It was a toilet. A fact he didn't notice in all the excitement. Not just any toilet, but one that he knew fairly well. It was Moaning Myrtle's toilet. Hermione's voice had came from the middle cubicle.

  "If Mrs. Weasley were to hear what you just said, Ginny, you would have had your mouth washed with soap!" Hermione said, opening the cubicle door.

  "What do you expect, living with seven brothers?" Ginny replied. 

  "Of all the places you could have chosen, you've got to pick Myrtle's toilet." Harry added, grinning a little. That grin disappeared when Hermione stepped out, looking like she has been crying.

  "You know what they say, misery loves company." Hermione answered as she made her way over to the sinks to wash her face.

  "Why are you crying?" Harry asked. "Is it about what Malfoy did just now?"

  Hermione shook her head. "Who cares about that creep?" 

  "Then why?" Harry pressed. Hermione very seldom cried. It would have taken something fairly major for her to shed tears.

  "It doesn't matter." Hermione answered, splashing water on her face.

  "It matters to me." Harry replied.

  "She's in love with you, Harry." Ginny said softly.

  "What?" Harry cried, surprised at this information.

  "Ask her." Ginny replied before she walked out of the toilet, leaving the two of them facing each other, Harry shocked, Hermione resigned.


	3. Heart Talk

**N/A: **The voting results are out! It's… '_Drumroll_' H/G!!!!!!

  To hp+hg=LOVE, I'm very sorry to disappoint you. You were a very loud voice in support of H/H. Alas, it was a lonely voice…

  To the others, namely: Julephenia, bucky, King Crimson Fan On a Mac, tenshi-chan, mione(No, they wouldn't be together. Nothing personal, but I think those who support Hermione and Draco are out of their mind, as that's not likely to happen.) , Some Dude(I know that, but someone still asked for H/H, therefore I asked your input.) and Ksiezniczka. Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome. Bring'em on!

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 3

Heart Talk

  "Is it true?" Harry asked, after going over the shock of hearing it. "That you are … in love with me?"

  Hermione blushed a little, but nodded. "Since Ginny had already said it out, there's no real reason to hide it anymore, is there?" 

  "But when you do hide it, you do it really well." Harry replied. "I had no idea as to how you feel…"

  "It wasn't that difficult." Hermione said, playing with a lock of her hair to hide her nervousness. "You were too busy to really take notice of anything."

  "Really…?"

  "I did thought of telling you last year, but what with the Triwizard Tournament and … what happened then, I didn't think that's a good time to say anything about it." 

  "Hermione…" 

  "And then Dumbledore wouldn't allow me to send any mail to you." Tears were gathering in Hermione's eyes again as she spoke. "And I was so worried for you the whole summer… worried that the muggles would ill-treat you, or death eaters coming after you, or Voldemort would come and kill you… or… or…" 

  By this time, Hermione was too chocked up with tears to continue, tears rolling silently down her cheeks, while Harry looked on helplessly, unsure of how to help her. 

  "And… and I was so looking forward to seeing you again… and when I got here… Ginny told me…" Hermione continued brokenly, stopping now and then to sniff and dash her tears away.

  "It's ok, Hermione. That's enough." Harry said gently, awkwardly placing his hand Hermione's shoulders. With a cry, Hermione fling her arms around Harry and sobbed.

  "There, there." Harry said soothingly. It was, on reflection, not the best he could have said, but he really couldn't think of anything else to say. He patted her shoulders clumsily, trying to comfort her. "There, there."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Ginny turned away form the door where she's been eavesdropping on Harry and Hermione, feeling a little sick inside. 

  '_So that's how it is…_' 

  Why would Harry want her when Hermione was available? She had known that she couldn't really be compared to Hermione. Didn't Ron tell her many times how attractive Hermione was, how clever, how smart, how much Hermione she was compared to her? Part of the nervousness she faced while waiting for Hermione to appear earlier was due to the fact that she was afraid that Harry would leave her for Hermione if Hermione's feelings were made known to him. Well, that had came true. Harry was in Hermione's arms now…

  As Ginny made her way back to the common room, she missed out on what Harry said to Hermione after she had stopped crying. If she had heard it, it would have save her much trouble…

~~~~~~~~~~

  "Feel better now?" Harry asked Hermione, smiling at her.

  Hermione sniffed and untangled her arms from Harry. "Yeah… I'm sorry for crying out like that…"

  "It's ok. I'm still your friend." Harry replied. 

  "Only friend?" Hermione said, looking down for a moment. 

  "Hermione… you know that Ginny and I…" Harry started to say, but Hermione cut him off.

  "I know." She said. "And don't worry about me. I'll be alright once I get used to it."

  "That's a relive." Harry said. "At least I know you wouldn't go and kill yourself because of this…" He shivered as he remembered a newspaper article he read in the muggle newspaper a few weeks back about a girl who jumped down from a ten-story building because her boyfriend left her.

  "Hey! You underestimate me!" Hermione laughed through her tears. "You forgot that I am Hermione the Sensible! I wouldn't kill myself because someone, who shall remain nameless, chose to rejected me."

  "Yeah… that's right." Harry replied sheepishly.

  "So… how did you guys get together?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the floor. Though it was a little dirty, Hermione didn't mind it. Compared to its usual condition, it could be considered very clean. At least the floor was dry.

  "Well, have you read about Tel'anran'rhiod?" Harry asked as he also sat down next to Hermione.

  "Somewhat. It's supposed to be the place where you go when you sleep, right." Hermione answered.

  "Yup. Ginny visited me through Tel'anran'rhiod once about two weeks back"

  "What! But I thought humans can't go there!" Hermione exclaimed, surprised.

  "You're wrong." Harry said, smiling a little at the expression of Hermione. She wouldn't take kindly to being told that she's wrong. She prided herself at being right most of the time. "I myself have been there twice." 

  "Oh?" An ached eyebrow. 

  "Of course, I didn't do it alone." Harry added quickly. "A star helped me."

  "A star?" Hermione said disbelievingly. 

  "Let me explain." Harry said. "I was feeling sorry for myself that night, and I made a wish to a shooting star that was passing by. I wished not to be along again…" He remembered that night, when he had felt as if everyone had abandoned him. Looking back now, he should never have doubted his friends.

  "And?" Hermione prompted, seeing Harry silent after a few minutes. Harry jumped a little, startled out of his musing.

  "Sorry, just remembering that day." Harry apologized. "Anyway, Ginny made a wish too. To help me, in any way apparently."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. Star must have thought it's a good deal, two wishes in one."

  "Star?"

  "Oh, sorry. That's the name of the shooting star."

  "The shooting star?" Hermione was surprised. They named a shooting star?

  "It's not just a ball of gas." Harry replied, guessing Hermione's thoughts. "It's a person. A lady. Her name was Star."

  "Oh. Okay…"

  "Anyway, she helped Ginny get into my dream, and we talked, really talked. I can't remember any time that I had a serious conversation with Ginny before, so that could count as the first time that happened. I even showed her my nightmare about the event last year. You know, when Voldemort was reborn?"

  Hermione nodded to show that she understood.

  "Somehow, during that time, it was like she and I was in the same body. I could feel the things she was feeling, and I'm sure it's the same for her. Her fear of Voldemort, the joy of seeing me escape him. I could feel her feelings as clearly as I could feel my own. Everything she felt, I felt it too, even her love for me…"

  Harry's eyes had became vague, a half-smile on his lips. Hermione recognize that look. It was the same look that her father had when he told her the story of how he met her mother. '_It's the real thing…_' She thought sadly. '_This isn't a crush, nor is it a fling. This is true love. As true as it can get…_' She pulled her attention back to Harry's voice as he resumed his story.

  "We planned on meeting at the Hogwart's Express. But as it turned out, we met much earlier than planned. When I woke up, I found out that I was in Ginny's body."

  "What?" Hermione interrupted. "In Ginny's body? What do you mean?"

  "Yeah, I was surprised too. Imagine, I went to bed a boy, I woke up a girl." Harry chuckled. "But more surprising was Ron's reaction. He didn't kick up a fuss or anything."

  On seeing Hermione's disbelieving look, Harry quickly amended. "Well, maybe a little, at first. But once I explained that I am Harry in Ginny's body, he took it surprisingly well. 'Course, it helped that my scar was also transferred along, else I suspect that it would take a lot longer to convince him."

  Hermione laughed. "I knew it wouldn't be so easy. So how did Ginny take it?"

  "I have no idea. We didn't really talk about it."

  "I see…"

  "She disappeared into the toilet once, though. No idea what she did inside."

  "She didn't!"

  "She did. We were at Hogwarts then. Dumbledore thought it would be safer here than for us to remain at either the burrow or my aunt's place. Dumbledore was just about to tell us about his own experience in Tel'anran'rhiod when she suddenly asked to be excused and disappeared to the toilet. She nearly got me into trouble though. Turn out that as she was coming out of the toilet, Snape caught her. As she was in my body, Snape assumed that _I_ was going into girl's toilets!"

  "Oh dear. So how did you get out of that?"

  "Dumbledore told Snape that he told her to go to the girl's toilet. You should have seen Snape's face then. I nearly laughed out loud." This time, Harry did laugh out loud as he remembered Snape's expression. Hermione joined in a moment later. Though she didn't see Snape's expression at that time, her imagination made up for it.

  "What happened next?" Hermione asked after she managed to get her laughter under control.

  "Well, Dumbledore continued telling us about the dark days of Grindelwald…"

  "Wait a minute. I thought he was about to tell you about his time in Tel'anran'rhiod?"

  "He was, only Grindelwald was mixed up in it too. Dumbledore was looking for a way to defeat Grindelwald when he too made a wish on a shooting star. It was in Tel'anran'rhiod that Grindelwald was defeated. I don't know the details though. Dumbledore never told as that much."

  "I see. I'll have to ask him myself."

  "I would advice you not to do that. I think it's something private and personal.

  "Oh… alright then. Please continue your story."

  "About halfway though the story, Star appeared again. It seems that she had brought us all into Tel'anran'rhiod to correct the mistakes regarding our bodies. Most of our memories of what happened in Tel'anran'rhiod were lost when we left Tel'anran'rhiod the last time, so Star offered to show us what happened. Ron also stayed. You can imagine that he didn't enjoy the show much, especially the kissing scene."

  "You two kissed?" 

  "Yeah. Just before we left Tel'anran'rhiod the first time. Ron was really angry with me about it. He even knocked me across the room. After Ginny whispered something to him, he stopped though. Must be something embarrassing for him."

  "I'll bet Ginny knows a couple of stuff to embarrass him completely."

  "More than a couple, I think. She has been living with him for all her life now, you now."

  "True… So what happened next?"

  "Well, Star told us that in order to return to our own bodies, we'd have to kiss again." 

  "Really? Why is that?"

  "Star told us that the reason we switched bodies in the first place was because of the kiss we shared when we were in Tel'anran'rhiod last, and a kiss is needed to switch back. You can imagine Ron's reaction to this."

  "He must have been red in the face." Hermione said, chuckling at the imagined look on Ron's face.

  "I can't say for sure, he turned away from us. Since this can't be avoided, he can't do anything to stop it from happening."

  Here, Harry paused again, reflecting on his feelings at that time, when he had first knew that he would always be there for Ginny. 

  "When we returned to the real world, something about the two of us had changed. Not just our relationship with each other, but in our very way of thinking."

  "What do you mean?" Hermione asked. 

  "You know how in the past, we almost never notice Ginny? It's as if she had the ability to sink into the wall and disappear."

  "Yeah, That's true. If Ginny didn't come and talk to us, we wouldn't even know she's there."

  "Well, now whenever I enter a room and she's there, I would know it immediately. It's as if I had an extra sense that is tuned to Ginny alone."

  "Oh?"

  "Yeah. And I know her like nobody else does. I suspect it's because for a short time I actually was her. I know her inside and out. I know her every gesture, every move. And it's the same for her. She is the only person who understands me completely. That rather spoils me for anyone else because there's no one else who can understand me like she does."

  There was silence for a few minutes as both Harry and Hermione were caught up in their thoughts.

  "So there's really no hope for me?" Hermione finally spoke up.

  "I'm sorry." Harry answered gently. "But right now, there's no one that can take Ginny's place in my heart."

  "I thought so, I just had to ask." Hermione replied. She glanced at her watch and gave a startled cry. "Look at the time! We've completely missed the feast and the sorting!"

  "What? Again?" Harry replied. "And I thought I would make it for sure this year, being two weeks early at Hogwarts and all…"

  "I'm really sorry." Hermione apologized. "For taking up so much of your time."

  "It's ok." Harry smiled in reply. "If I have to miss the sorting, at least it was with a friend…"

  "Well, we better get back to the common room before they lock us out of there." Hermione said as she stood up and offered a hand to Harry. Harry gladly accepted her help as his legs had fallen asleep. When he tried to pull his hand out of Hermione's, however, she wouldn't let go.

  "Please, just this once." Hermione pleaded. Harry considered it for a few moments before nodding.

  "Ok, just this once." He said, smiling at Hermione. Together they made their way back to the common room. When they reached the corridor that leads to the Fat Lady, Hermione dropped Harry's hands.

  "Thanks Harry." She said. "Now I know what it's like to hold the hand of Harry Potter."

  Harry did not answer to that, he just smiled at her and continued on to the entrance of the Gryffindor's common room.

~~~~~~~~~~

  Ron Weasley paced restlessly in front of the fire, anxiety and worry on his face. When he heard the door creak open, he nearly ran to the door.

  "What's the matter, Ron?" Harry asked as he stepped into the common room only to see Ron rush towards him. 

  "Is Ginny with you?" Ron nearly yelled out as he neared them.

  "Didn't she return some time back?" Hermione asked.

  "I haven't seen her since the time she pulled you out of the room, Harry." Ron answered, almost at panic point.

  "What? She should have returned long ago." Harry said, worry creping into his voice too.

  "Should we go look for her?" Hermione suggested.

  "But the Headmaster asked us all to stay inside the dorm after dinner, or I would have got looking for her myself." Ron answered, nervously twisting his hands.

  "Screw the Headmaster. What if Ginny is hurt somewhere? I'm going!" With that, Harry disappeared out of the common room again.

  "Wha… Wait up, Harry. We're going with you!" Hermione yelled after Harry's retreating back.

  "Hurry up then!" Harry yelled back over his shoulders before rounding the corner. 

  "Come on, Ron" Hermione said, pulling Ron's hand. 

  "Okay, okay. I'm coming." Ron replied, scrambling over the ledge of the painting.


	4. Heart Talk 2

**A/N: **Sorry for the long delay, but I have just bought Diablo 2 and suddenly found my time disappearing at an astounding rate. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Hope it's up to everyone's expectations, low as that might be.

  Thanks to those who review the last chapter. Especially Bucky, who was the only review I had for a few days, making me think that no one else cared for my work anymore. I began this chapter for him/her/it, thinking that I at least own it to him/her/it to complete this story. (Sorry, but you didn't have any information in your author's page.)

  To some dude, I think thefly has a massage to you. read it in the reviews.

  Thanks goes to Ronniekin's sweetheart and Bob33 too. Thanks lots. 

  Keep those reviews coming. While it's not compulsory, it does encourage the author greatly to see reviews. Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 4

Heart Talk 2

  Draco Malfoy paced around the Slytherin's common room, his face creased with worry. It was almost time for him to report in, and he wasn't looking forward to it at all, not when he didn't have the goods to deliver. How is he going to explain that he had failed to kidnap one of Harry's best friends? The Dark Lord did not take kindly to failures. At least the common room was empty, sparing him from embarrassment…

  The fireplace behind him suddenly busted into flames, startling Malfoy. A face slowly appeared inside the fire, and Lucius Malfoy looked out of the fire at his son.

  "Well, have you completed the mission?" Lucius demanded, getting straight to the point.

  "I'm very sorry, but Potter and Weasley keep interrupting." Draco said placidly, hopping to be able to get through this without hurting himself.

  "In other words, no." Lucius sneered. "How useless can you get, not being able to complete such a simple mission? You just have to get her alone and Portkey her to us. How difficult is that?"

  '_I'll like to see you try it with Potter hovering over her all day, Dad…_' Draco thought sarcastically. He did not, however, say it out loud. He's not so foolish as to incur the anger of his father needlessly.

  "No matter." Lucius continued. "Peter Pettigrew" Lucius made a disgusted face. "That insufferable rat, through his rat spies inside Hogwarts, had found a better target for you."

  Draco was surprised, though he didn't allow it to show on his face. There's someone else even closer to Potter than that mudblood? Briefly, Draco ran through the names of the Gryffindors, but drew up a blank.

  "One that you should have no trouble with, even with your limited talents." Lucius continued. "Weasley's daughter."

  "Ginny?" Draco was surprised. Ginny Weasley, closer to Harry Potter then even his best friend Hermione Granger? How is that possible?

  "Just do it." Lucius snapped. Draco's doubt had appeared for a moment before it was suppressed. "Do not question the Dark Lord's decision."

  "As the Dark Lord commands." Draco replied smoothly, bowing slightly. Lucius stared at Draco for another moment before his head disappear from the fire.

  "So… Ginny Weasley…" Draco whispered. He smiled a cold smile. This should be interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~

  "Wait, Harry!" Hermione cried as she tried to catch up with Harry, who was running full speed towards God-knows-where.

  "Ginny may be in trouble! How can I stop and wait!" Harry shouted back over his shoulder. 

  "Use your brain, Harry!" Hermione returned, finally managing to catch his arm. Harry, in his impatience, tried to pull himself free. Hermione did not let go, however, and they ended up tumbling over each other.

  "Harry, calm down." Hermione said. Being on the top, she had recovered faster, and had seated herself on Harry, to prevent him from running off again. "What can you accomplish by running around in circles?"

  "I have to find Ginny." Harry said stubbornly. He struggled to get up. Hermione pushed him down again roughly.

  "We do have a faster way to find her, you know." Hermione said quickly, trying to hold Harry's wriggling form. "The Marauder's Map, remember?"

  Harry stopped struggling as if by magic. "Of course! I had completely forgotten about it." He would have slapped himself on the head if it weren't for the fact that Hermione was holding it down.

  "I was almost sure that you had forgotten about your brain." Hermione scolded, still not relaxing her hold. For such a thin boy, Harry is surprisingly strong. 

  Just then, Ron appeared around the corner. He had tripped over the ledge at the foot of the painting, giving Harry and Hermione a huge head start, which is why he only caught up with them now. He stopped short at the sight of Hermione seating on Harry.

  "What are you two doing?" Ron spoke up, after recovering from the shock.

  "Ron, good timing." Hermione cried out on seeing him. "Help me hold Harry. Don't let him rush off again."

  "Don't worry about that, Hermione." Harry replied. "I wouldn't rush off. Just let me up. I need to get the map."

  Hermione got up slowly, still ready to grab hold of Harry should he decide to resume his mad rush. Harry, however, just stood up and dusted himself off. 

  "Let's go." Was all he said before starting for the Gryffindor's common room.

  "Where are we going?" Ron asked as Harry brushed by him.

  "Back to the dorm." Hermione answered, as she too walked by him.

  "But we just came from there!" Ron protested as he turned to follow.

  "I forgot to take the map." Harry said shortly. He was almost sick with worry for Ginny. Just thinking of the possibilities of Voldemort getting his slimly hands on her was almost enough to make him scream.

  "Well, why didn't you think of it when you are there?" Ron wasn't normally this irritable, but his worry for his little sister had made him short-tempered. And all that aimless running he just did had not improve his temper at all.

  "Stop that, Ron." Hermione snapped. "Do you want to find Ginny?" Although she too was worried for Ginny, She couldn't afford to give in to panic like Harry just did. She had to keep her cool. After all, wasn't she supposed to be the brain of this team? But it's a little hard to think when the boys were arguing, though…

  Ron opened his mouth to retort, but shut it when Hermione glared at him. The rest of the journey was made in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~

  Seamus, Neville and Dean were just getting ready for bed when Harry banged into the room, crossed the length of it to his trunk, grabbed something from it and was out of the room before they could even blink.

  Seamus turned to Dean. "Is that Harry just now?"

  "I think so, but I couldn't see clearly. He was moving too fast." Dean replied. "What about you, Neville?"

  A snore was his only answer. Neville was already asleep.

  Seamus and Dean looked at each other before shaking their heads and turning to their beds, the incident already dismissed from their minds.

~~~~~~~~~~

  "Well?" Ron whispered, as Harry walked down the stairs with the map in front of him. "Where is she?"

  "Astronomy Tower." Harry answered quietly.

  "WHAT!!!" Ron exclaimed. "The Astronomy Tower? Without you?"

  Seeing Harry's clueless look, Hermione explained it to him. 

  "The Astronomy Tower is the place where boyfriends bring their girlfriends to when they want to get away from other people."

  "Oh…" Harry quickly looked back at the map. "At least she's alone there."

  "Well, we better go get her." Hermione said, standing up. Harry shook his head at that.

  "I think it would be better if I go myself." Harry replied. 

  "Why's that?" Hermione asked.

  "Ginny must be upset about something, or she would be here in the common room with us." Harry answered.

  "Yeah." Ron chipped in. "Ginny used to hide away when she's upset about something. Gave us quite a job looking for her, sometimes."

  "Oh well. You guys know her best." Hermione said, sitting back down with a slightly sad expression. "Go on, just don't be too late."

  Harry flash her a quick smile before disappearing through the door of the common room.

~~~~~~~~~~

  Ginny sat at corner of the room on top of the Astronomy Tower, not doing anything, nor thinking anything. Her mind is a comfortable blank now. Luckily the Tower was empty today. This being the first day of school, everyone was too tired to think of sneaking around with their respective partners. She had wandered around the castle for sometime after what she heard within Moaning Myrtle's toilet in a daze, not knowing, or caring where she ended up. 

  Of course, she had finally found herself here at the Astronomy Tower, looking out of the window at the failing day and the coming of night when she snapped out of her daze. Somehow it fits how she's feeling right now. The happy two weeks that she had with Harry was ending, like the day was, and the only thing in the future was the endless night of looking out of the shadows at Harry and Hermione together. She knew, somehow, that she would never love anyone like she loved Harry. It was somehow part of her now, loving Harry. She would never escape from it.

  As the first stars appeared in the sky, Ginny found tears gathering in her eyes again, as she recall the way they got together in Tel'anran'rhiod, and of the two weeks of happiness she had. She had sank to her knees there in front of the window and allowed the tears to fall. There's no one there. No one to see her cry, to laugh at her for being to foolish as to think that Harry Potter, The Great Harry Potter would ever love her. But there's a part of her that protested to that thought. The part that told her that the past two weeks were not a dream, that Harry had told her he loved her, many times. That he wouldn't lie about something like that. Not Harry. He had known too little love in his life to make light of love.

  Just as she was taking comfort in that thought, another one popped up in her head. If Harry loved her so much, why didn't he touch her more? Ginny had grown up in a large family. To her, touch is a very important part of telling someone that you care for him or her. A simple pat on the head, a hug, or simply holding hands means more than words to her that someone care for her. But Harry did none of these with her. In fact, he seems uncomfortable when she cuddled up to him.

  Of course, in her mind she knew why is that. Harry was almost always alone before he came to Hogwarts. His muggle relatives did not like, much less love him. He had grown up lacking much of the human contact that she had taken for granted in the large family she had. But in her heart she can't help but feel that he somehow didn't care for her when he showed discomfort in those simple acts that couples share. She knew he couldn't help it, but she still felt that way anyway.

  Distantly, she heard the door to the room she's in creak open, and a head poked in, looking around for something.

  "Ginny?" A voice said into the silence of the room. A voice she knew very well.

  "What do you want, Potter?" Ginny said harshly, harsher than she had wanted to sound. Crying for hours will do that to your voice.

  There was a stunned silence before Harry replied.

  "What? Why did you call me Potter?" Harry's voice sounded shocked. 

  "What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, ignoring Harry's question. In true, she didn't know why she did that, either. It just slipped out.

  "Looking for you. What do you think?" Harry replied, walking into the room. "Something's brothering you. Why don't you tell me about it?"

  "Aren't you with Hermione?" Ginny replied, ignoring Harry's question again.

  "We were looking for you." Harry answered, sitting himself beside her. "Everyone was worried about you, when you weren't in the common room when we got back. Ron nearly wore a hole in the floor of the common room with his pacing."

  Despite herself, Ginny smiled a little at the thought of Ron falling through the floor of the common room because of the hole he created by pacing.

  "What about you? Are you worried for me?" Ginny couldn't help but ask. She knew that answer, but she needed to hear it for herself.

  "No. I wasn't worry about you." Came the answer.

  "What?" Ginny was shocked. So Harry didn't care for her after all. She could feel her heart making a trip down to the basement of her shoes…

  "I was fanatic!" Harry continued. He turned to face Ginny. "When I couldn't find you in the common room, I nearly went crazy. It took Hermione and Ron to pull me back to my senses."

  "Oh… Sorry." Ginny said. But her heart had suddenly been given wings, and was now somewhere in her head. Harry Potter cared for her!

  "Why did you disappear like that? I thought that Voldemort had somehow got hold of you!" Harry asked, the concern plain in his voice.

  "I thought that you left me for Hermione." Was the shaky reply.

  "Why would I want to do that, when I have you?" Harry asked, puzzled.

  "When I saw you hugging her, and you never did the same to me." Ginny answered, near tears again. 

  There was a moment of silence. Then Ginny felt Harry's arm landed softly on her shoulders.

  "Ginny, she was crying." Harry replied gently. "You can't expect me to just leave her like that." He pulled her closer to him.

  "No, I suppose not." Ginny gave a small sigh and rested her head on his shoulders. She felt him tense up, but he didn't pull away like he did the first time she did that.

  "I'm sorry about not hugging you." Harry said then. "I really don't feel comfortable with it. But give me time, and I will overcome this."

  "So you're still my boyfriend, right?" Ginny looked up to Harry's face. 

  "I never stopped being yours, and I never will, Ginny. Don't worry about that." Harry answered, smiling down on her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

  "I'm really sorry for running off." Ginny said, snuggling deeper. "I just felt really confused when I saw Hermione hugging you."

  "It's ok. Don't worry about it." Harry replied. "Just remember that I will always love you, no matter what. You're the only one who can understand me completely. There'll be no one else that I'll love more than you."

  Ginny smiled on hearing those words. Her thoughts before now seem silly and stupid in the face of Harry's words. Suddenly tired, she felt herself drifting to sleep, warm in Harry's embrace. "I love you too…" She said sleepily.

  There they sat, Harry with his arm around Ginny's shoulders, Ginny resting her head on his shoulders. '_That wasn't so bad._' Harry thought. '_This is what I was so afraid of?_' 

  "Ginny?' Harry said. "We should get going. Ron will be worried."

  There was no answer. Ginny was already fast asleep. Harry sighed and gathered her in his arms. He didn't want to disturb her sleep, but they had to return to the Gryffindor Tower. The best way to accomplish both is to carry her back. At least it's so late at night that there wouldn't be anyone around to see him carrying her.

  Standing up, Harry made his way across the room and closed the door behind him as he went through it. 


	5. Slip of tongue

**A/N: **Sorry for the long delay, and for the very short chapter. The only excuse I have is 'exams'. That Ron and Hermione part isn't easy to write too. I know it's not very good, but compared to my first draft, it's much better.

  Thanks also to Bucky (nice to know that you are a girl.), TheMonkeyStoleMyDad'sVisaCard, and Ronninkin's Sweetheart for your kind reviews.

  Please take a moment to review. I need the reviews to tell me if I'm doing something right. Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 5

Slip of tongue 

    "I can't believe it!" Hermione cried out, jumping to her feet. She had asked Ron for a game of chess after she had gotten tired of seeing Ron pacing around the common room. She knew that he was worried for Ginny, and so tried to take his mind off the matter by playing chess with him.

  "What?" Ron asked, looking up at her in surprise. It was seldom that you get to see Hermione jumping around like that, she being the serious student that she is.

  "Checkmate!" she cried, waving her hands about in her amazement at actually beating Ron at chess for the first time in four years.

  "What!" Ron was shocked. No one had ever managed to beat him in chess since Bill taught him the game when he was nine. He looked down at the chess pieces, only to see his king shaking its fist at him. He returned his gaze to Hermione, his mouth agape. One mistake. One stupid mistake, and he didn't even see it till now.

  "You must really be concerned about Ginny, or you would have won." Hermione said, seating back down.

  "It's not about Ginny." Ron replied. "I know Harry can take care of that. It's… something else…" Suddenly quiet, he sank back into his chair. How could he tell her that he was thinking of her when he made the mistake that allowed her to win the game?

  "Something else brothering you?" Hermione asked. "Come on, let's hear it." She sat up expectantly in her chair. 

  "No… I don't think so…" Ron answered. He was starting to get really nervous. Events have been running too fast together today, what with Hermione running off earlier, and now with Ginny's absence, that he didn't really have enough time to think. He had been planning to tell Hermione about his feelings for her today, but now that they are actually alone, he couldn't seems to bring out the courage to say anything.

  "Come on, you can tell me." Hermione pressed. "Aren't we best friends?"

  "Well…" Ron hesitated. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her. It's just that he had no idea how to do it. It was, after all, the first time he was in this situation. "I like you. Would you be my girlfriend?" he blurted out at last. 

  There was a stunned silence for a moment.

  "What?" Hermione said at last. "I must have heard wrongly. I thought I heard you ask me to be your girlfriend?" Whatever she was expecting, it certainly wasn't that…

  "You did." Ron sighed. He silently curse his mouth for blurting it out like that.

  "Oh man…" Hermione wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. Here she had just been rejected by Harry, and now Ron came asking her to be his girlfriend. It's so absurd, it's almost funny.

  "Well?"

  "I'm sorry. I need to think about it." Hermione answered slowly. Until she has gotten over Harry and Ginny can she answer this question. As things stand, it wouldn't be fair to either Ron or her to answer it now. 

  "Oh, okay…" That wasn't the way he had envision it. He thought that with Harry now dating Ginny, Hermione would go out with him. Apparently, he thought wrongly…

  There they sat, both wrapped in silence and their own thoughts, waiting for Harry to bring Ginny back.

~~~~~~~~~

  Harry was about halfway from the Gryffindor Tower when he felt Ginny stir on his back.

  "Awake already?" Harry said, smiling at Ginny over his shoulder.

  "Where are we?" She asked sleepily. Harry let her down from his back before answering.

  "On the way back to the tower. You fell asleep, remember."

  "Oh, yeah. Sorry you had to carry me."

  "No problem." Harry answered.

  They walked on in a comfortable silence. 

  "Hey, Harry?" Ginny suddenly spoke up, turning to face Harry. "Are you telling the others about us?"

  "If you want." Harry replied. "Why?"

  "I just don't like to sneak around." Was the reply.

  "That's fine with me." Harry said. "I just hope that Voldemort wouldn't hear of this."

  "Why's that?"

  "Just think. As it is now, Ron and Hermione are in danger because they are my best friends. Imagine the danger you'll be in if it was made known that you're my girlfriend."

  "I think I'll take that chance." Ginny replied primly.

  "So would I." Harry said. "Whatever happens, happens. I'll just have to deal with it when it comes."

  "Wow! Words of wisdom." Ginny said in a teasing tone. "What a shock!"

  "Hagrid said that to me at the end of last year." Harry answered with a smile.

  "Pretty confident words, don't you think?" a nasty, familiar voice drawled out from behind them.

  "Malfoy? What are you doing out here at this time?" Harry turned to face his old enemy, pulling Ginny behind him as he did.

  "Out for a walk." Malfoy answered, shrugging his shoulders. "And maybe grab a bite or something."

  They stood there staring at each other for a long while.

  "Well? Go on. I'm not stopping you." Harry said at last, seeing Malfoy just standing there, making no move to continue on his way.

  "You know, eating alone is rather boring, don't you think?" Malfoy said, a grin appearing on his mouth.

  "So?"

  "So I think I'll ask Miss Weasley to join me."

  "I think not." Harry said, folding his arms.

  "Well, Weasley. Wanna join me for supper?" Malfoy said, directing the question to Ginny.

  "Hmm…" Ginny stepped forward, looking at Malfoy up and down, as if checking him out. Her hand on her chin, she looked as if she was really considering his proposal.

  "Ahh…, Ginny?" Harry asked tentatively. "You don't seriously think you want to go with him….?"

  "Shh. I'm thinking." Ginny replied distantly, her eyes still on Malfoy. She begin to circle around Malfoy slowly, her eyes traveling all over him. Malfoy looked distinctly uncomfortable under the gaze of Ginny, while Harry looked on helplessly, wondering what exactly was Ginny up to. Even his recent knowledge of her did not help him one bit."

~~~~~~~~~~

  "That's it! I can't wait any longer!" Ron busted out. For the past twenty minutes he had been staring at the Marauder's Map, and he couldn't stand the awkward silence he and Hermione had been sitting in since his slip of tongue anymore.

  "Wait a little longer, Ron." Hermione said. "They're on their way already."

  "I know, but they've stopped for the last ten minutes." Ron replied. "I'm going." With that, he jumped out of his chair and walked towards the entrance.

  "I'll come with you." Hermione said as she stood up too.

  "No need." Ron said shortly. "I'll be back with them soon." The bang of the portray echoed around the room, broken by the Fat Lady's murmurings about the manners of youths. Hermione slowly sank back into her chair, feeling suddenly very tired.

  "Why did the first day of school have to turn out like that…" She whispered to herself as she pulled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees.

~~~~~~~~~

  Ginny ended her tour around Malfoy, looking up to his face. Malfoy returned her look coolly, one eyebrow cocked up. 

  "Well?" Malfoy asked.

  "Sure, why not?" Ginny replied, shrugging her shoulders.

  "What!?" Harry practically yelled. He ran up to Ginny and caught hold of her arm. "You can't be serious!" 

  "Alright. Shell we be off then?" Malfoy said, extending one arm.


	6. Wizard's Duel

**A/N: **Exams are over!!! Here's the next chapter. Consider it part two of the last chapter. It was supposed to be one chapter, but last chapter took too long to write, so I posted it up first. This chapter is where the last chapter is suppose to end.

  Thanks to all those who reviewed last chapter. 

  To backy: Do you have so little faith in me? I told you that this would be a H/G story, didn't I?

  To all others who reviewed, Thanks. Tell me what you think of this chapter too. 

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 6

Wizard's Duel

  "But…" Ginny said, holding up one hand. "Only if you would do a few little things."

  "Oh? And what might those things be?" Malfoy said in an amused tone, refolding his arms.

  "Number one. Dye your hair black." Ginny replied, counting it off her finger.

  "What for?" Malfoy asked, a little puzzled. Not that he would do that, of course. His hair was one of his source of pride. He isn't going to dye it just to get Weasley alone, even if it's against orders.

  "You'll know later." Ginny answered. "Number two. Wear a pair of glasses."

  Malfoy was beginning to see a certain pattern here. "And number three?"

  "Number three. Rename yourself Harry Potter." Ginny replied, ticking off the last point. "That's about it. You think you can do that?"

  "If I can do all that, you'll come with me?" Malfoy asked.

  "Hmmm…" Ginny appeared to be thinking hard. "No."

  "Why am I not surprised?" Malfoy said, rubbing his forehead. It was proving more difficult then he thought.

  "No offences to you." Ginny replied, turning to Harry with a smile and a wink, who had almost melted with relive when he heard Ginny's impossible requests. "But I think I prefer the original Harry Potter to a fake Harry Potter."

  "Really?" Malfoy said.

  "Yes." Ginny started walking away from Malfoy. "Come on, Harry. Ron and Hermione would be worried if we stayed away any longer."

  Harry returned Malfoy's smug smile before turning his back on Malfoy, his hands reaching for Ginny's.

  Bad mistake.

  "You know, you don't really have a choice." Malfoy's voice rang out behind them. A dangerous tone. "_Expelliarmus!_"

  Before Harry could turn around, the spell had already reached him. He was send flying into the nearby wall with a crash. The world seemed to swim upside-down for a moment as Harry tried to fight off the effects of bashing into the wall at high speed.

  "Harry!" Ginny cried as she hurried to his side.

  "No, no. I can't allow that." Malfoy said, shaking his head. His grin had returned, now that he was back in control of the situation. "_Accio Weasley!_"

  Just as Ginny was about to reach Harry, the spell caught up with her, snatching her away from Harry into Malfoy's arms. Malfoy soon found her more than a handful.

  "Let me go, you stupid idiot!" Ginny yelled, straggling in Malfoy's grasp. Her hands connected with Malfoy's nose, causing him to drop her with a curse of pain. Ginny tried to scamper away from Malfoy, but Malfoy, despite a bleeding nose, managed to grab hold of Ginny's hair.

  "Do that again, and I will kill you, bitch!" Malfoy hissed into Ginny's ear as he pulled hard on her hair, causing Ginny to cry out in pain.

  "Take your filthy hands off her, Malfoy." Harry said angrily as he tried to pull himself to his feet, his head still ringing unpleasantly from the pain.

  "Or what, Potter? What can you do to me?" Malfoy gloated as he looked at his old foe, Ginny still straggling and yelling from his hand. "You can't even stand." He gave Harry a savage kick in the stomach, causing Harry to fall back in pain.

  "Stop that!" Ginny shouted, somehow twisting herself around her hair to clamp her teeth onto the hand holding her hair. With an oath, Malfoy pulled his hand out of range of Ginny's teeth, his other hand reaching out to connect with the side of Ginny's face in a loud slap. As Ginny reeled back from the force of the blow, Malfoy whipped his wand out to Ginny and bound her hands and feet and mouth with ropes that shoot from the end of his wand, rendering her helpless.

  "That should keep you from interfering." Malfoy said. "Now where were we…?" He gave Harry another kick, knocking Harry, who was almost on his feet, back down again. "Ha! Look at yourself now, Potter! The great Harry Potter, on his knees before me!" He reared back his feet for another kick.

  Harry, seeing his chance, grabbed hold of Malfoy's leg as he kicked again. With all his strength, Harry pulled on the leg, overbalancing Malfoy and toppling him over. Not wasting another moment, Harry rolled over Malfoy and started to hit him wherever he could reach.

  "Not… feeling so smug now… are we?" Harry panted as he tried his very best to beat Malfoy up.

  "Not my face!" Malfoy cried when he felt the fist of Harry punched him in the nose. "Ohhh… you will pay for that!"

  "Shut up!" Harry said, redoubling his efforts, aiming at the face now. "I'm taking you down now!"

  Unfortunately, Malfoy still had his wand. "_Expell…armus!_" He gasped out in between the attacks of Harry. Harry was thrown off Malfoy by the force of the spell. Malfoy hurriedly got to his feet, as had Harry, despite the pain he was feeling. They stood glaring at each other down the corridor. Suddenly, Malfoy straighten up and brushed the dust off his robes.

  "Wizard's duel, Potter." Malfoy said, holding out his wand. "Winner gets Weasley. What do you think?"

  Harry's eyes narrowed, as he wondered what Malfoy had up his sleeves this time. But a wizard's duel was an offer he couldn't refuse. He nodded curtly, not taking his eyes off Malfoy.


	7. The Duel

**A/N: **Well, the next chapter. The longest so far. Hope you'll like this one.

  Thanks to those who reviewed. Your comments mean a lot to me.

  To Cygnus Crux: Don't worry about it. It's just my impression as I read your story.

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of You

Chapter 7

The duel

  "One thing first, Malfoy." Harry said, pulling out his own ward. "No unforgivable."

  "Of course not!" Malfoy replied, sounding a little shocked, and more than a little surprised. "You think I would use those? Who do you think I am?"

  "A death eater's son." Harry answered calmly, tapping his wand against his hand. "I don't trust that you wouldn't use them."

  "My father was under the Imperius…" Malfoy fairly growled.

  "As if anyone would believe that." Harry interrupted. His wand met his hand with a loud 'Crack'. "We're wasting time, Malfoy. Hurry up."

  "That's it. You're so dead, Potter!" Malfoy yelled, brandishing his wand about.

  "Do you plan to fight with empty words, Malfoy?" Harry said, straightening himself, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach, where Malfoy had kicked him. "Or have you forgotten how to duel?"

  Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he forced himself to calm down. "Right. We're supposed to bow, isn't it?"

  "Yes. That's right." Harry replied. He bowed slowly, his eyes not leaving Malfoy's.

  Malfoy hid a smirk as he watched Harry bow, even as his own head came down in a shallow nod. He who strikes first has the advantage, and Malfoy intended to get that advantage. Before Harry had straightened himself, Malfoy had already snapped his wand forward, yelling "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Unknown to Malfoy, Harry had expected Malfoy to do something like that, and he had been watching him even as he was bowing. Therefore, when Malfoy began his attack, Harry was already aware of it.

  "Hey, you don't play fair!" Harry exclaimed as he leaped to one side to avoid the spell brushing by him. Mid-leap, he began his couter-attack. "_Expelliarmus!_"

  "You think I care?" Malfoy replied as he dodged the spell. "_Stupefy!_"

  "Why are you trying to get Ginny anyway?" Harry dropped to the ground as the spell shaved past his unruly hair. "_Locomotor Mortis!_"

  "It's certainly not because I like her or anything like that." Malfoy said as he leaped over the spell. "I was ordered to." He fired off the jelly-legged curse at Harry, who quickly scrambled to his feet. He was too late, however, and the curse hit him squarely on the chest.

  "Ordered? By whom? Voldemort?" Harry asked in a taunting tone as he tried to keep his balance on suddenly wobbly feet. "_Incendio!_"

  "That's none of your business." Malfoy answered shortly. He seemed to have realized that he had spoken too much and had decided not to give anything else away. That and the fact that he was currently busy trying to beat out the flames that had appeared on his robes, courtesy of Harry's spell. It proved to be his undoing. 

  As Malfoy was engaged in firefighting, Harry made good use of the opportunity to send a disarm charm towards Malfoy. Malfoy had just finished extinguishing the flames and was about to return to the duel when the charm hit him, knocking him off his feet and sending his wand flying towards a corner.

  "Well?" Harry walked carefully towards Malfoy, his wand trained on him. The last thing he wanted was to fall on his face, as he didn't have time to counter the jelly-legged curse. "Do you give up?"

  Malfoy glared up at Harry and laboriously began to climb to his feet, Harry's wand following him up. "My wand's gone. I can't continue. I've no choice but to give up." Malfoy said reluctantly once he's on his feet.

  "Well. Now you know who's better." Harry said as he relaxed his tense muscles. He lowered his wand to take off the jelly-legged curse. 

  Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he watched Harry's wand leave his chest. Once the wand wasn't pointed at him, Malfoy murmured "Not!" under his breath and promptly pushed Harry over. Caught by surprise, Harry raised his wand too late. He went head-over-heels, his wand flying out of his hand, clattering down the corridor to land near Ginny.

  "Now who's better?" Malfoy laughed as he picked his own wand up and pointed it at Harry.

  "That's cheating!" Harry yelled out, trying to get to his feet in vain, his legs being too wobbly to take his weight. "You gave up!"

  "I said 'not' under my breath, Potter." Malfoy smirked.

  "That's still cheating!" Harry exclaimed, feeling a little angry with himself. He should have known that Malfoy would try something like that.

  "It doesn't matter in the slightest, Potter." Malfoy said calmly, buffing his fingernails on his robes. "The fact is I'm still standing, and you… are not."

  "Damn you, Malfoy!" Harry raged helplessly. His wand out of reach, his legs not cooperating, there's no way he can overcome Malfoy this way.

  Malfoy simply laughed evilly and walked over to Ginny. "I'll be taking Weasley then."

  Meanwhile, Ginny, having a perfect view of the battle and the outcome, saw Harry's wand falling near her. After much wiggling, she managed to moved herself over the wand. Though her arms were bound together, her fingers were not. With great difficulty, she picked up Harry's wand while Malfoy's back was turned, taunting Harry.

  Malfoy picked Ginny up, slinging her over his shoulders like a sack. "Any last words to your lover, Weasley?" He had seen them just now as they were coming out of the astronomy room, and had heard Harry calling Ginny his girlfriend. He now knew why his father had asked him the change target.

  Ginny couldn't say anything due to the rope in her mouth, and she made that fact known to Malfoy with muffed cries.

  "Oh, yeah. That's right." Malfoy said with a laugh. "You can't talk with that in your mouth, can't you." He twisted Ginny around his shoulders so that her head was hanging down his front and pulled off the gag in her mouth. "There, it's it better?"

  Ginny hung panting for a moment, trying to catch her breath and to relax the tensed muscles in her mouth. Ginny's eyes narrowed as she realized that she had a perfect opportunity to stun Malfoy. He had not noticed the wand in Ginny's hands when he was manhandling her, being too busy looking at Harry to see his reaction to him pulling his hands on his girlfriend, and their current position placed the wand in her hand just beside Malfoy's head. Now all she needed was one good spell to knock him off his feet…

  "Much better now, thanks." Ginny smiled at Malfoy with fake sincerity. Her mother had always told her that boys were suckers for a girls' smile. Apparently it's true, as Malfoy seemed mildly surprised. Capitalising on his surprise, Ginny suddenly yelled "_Stupefy!_" Taken off guard, and with the spell at such close range, there was almost nothing Malfoy could do to avoid it. He was sent crashing against the wall, Ginny rolling off him to land on the ground with a loud "Ouch!"

  "Are you alright, Ginny?" Harry called out as he pulled himself over to her, his legs were still unable to hold his weight.

  "Yeah. I'm fine" Ginny replied. She had somehow managed to retain her grip on Harry's wand, which she dropped within Harry's reach. Harry was finally able to undo the jelly-legged curse and release Ginny. He helped Ginny to her feet.

"Well? What are we going to do about _him_?" Ginny asked, jerking her head towards Malfoy, knocked out cold from both the spell and his close encounter with the wall.

  "I think Dumbledore has to know about this." Harry answered, using the same charm that Malfoy used on Ginny to tie him up. "Voldemort is up to something."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Ron stormed through the endless corridors of Hogwarts, silently fuming. He really shouldn't be so angry, a small part of his mind told him. It's just that he had been waiting to confess his feelings to Hermione for so long, and had anticipated a favorable response for the whole of the two weeks that Harry and Ginny had been together that the disappointment was magnified that much. Ron wasn't someone who would help his feelings, and now he was feeling rather spurned. Added the fact that he had been walking for a very long time without seeing either hide or sight of his best friend or his little sister just increased his frustration.

  "… is up to something." Harry's voice came floated round the corner. Ron heaved a sigh of relive.

  "At last!" Ron murmured as he walked round the corner. He was greeted with a rather surprising sight. Harry was kneeing beside an unconscious Draco Malfoy, all tied up, Ginny standing behind him, a savage look on her face as she glared at Malfoy. "What happened?" Ron asked.

  "Oh, Ron. Mind giving me a hand?" Harry said, glancing back at him.

  "What happened? What's Malfoy doing here?" Ron asked again, walking up to them.

  "Malfoy tried to kidnap me for some reason." Ginny answered, still staring at Malfoy. "Harry had to duel with him."

  "Ginny's the one that knocked him out though." Harry said with a chuckle. "Took him by surprise."

  "So you're tying him up for…? Ron asked, bending over to get a good grip on Malfoy.

  "I think he's acting on Voldemort's orders." Harry replied, lifting Malfoy's legs. "I'm going to the headmaster now."

  "Really? And here I thought that he was interested in Ginny." Ron teased. Seeing Malfoy all trussed up and helpless had vastly improved his temper, enough to joke about it.

  "That's not funny!" Ginny said in a disgusted tone. "Eeww! Malfoy and me? You must be out of your mind!"

  Ron, chucking at the look on Ginny's face, did not answer to that.

~~~~~~~~~~

  Dumbledore was getting ready for bed when his door alarm sounded, breaking him out of his thoughts. He had been thinking on how to implement the new curriculum of Star Lore. That, coupled with the recent troubles with Voldemort, had left him with little time to sleep. He glanced at his magical mirror, enchanted to reflect the corridor outside his room. Harry was there, carrying Malfoy's unconscious body with his best friend Ron. His sister Ginny hung somewhat behind them.

  "Are you sure it's okay to call on the headmaster at this hour?" Dumbledore heard her ask, somewhat nervously.

  "It'll be alright. This is important." Harry replied, trying to reassure her.

  Dumbledore briefly considered the idea of pretending to be away. He was really very tired, and he still had plenty of work to do the next day. But he knew that whenever Harry came to look for him, it's bound to be important. Besides, he had his reputation to consider.

  "Come in." Dumbledore called out as he settled into his chair, wondering what news did Harry bring this time, and why on earth would Malfoy be tied up like a chicken.

~~~~~~~~~~

  "See, told you it's alright." Harry said as he pulled open the door to Dumbledore's office and stepped inside it, heedless of Malfoy's arms banging against the doorframe.

  "I'm really sorry, Headmaster." Ginny said as she followed in.

  "It's alright." Dumbledore replied. "Please, take a seat. And why's Mr. Malfoy all tied up?"

  "He tried to kidnap Ginny, Sir." Harry replied. "I think Voldemort's behind it."

  "Really? Why did you say that?" Dumbledore asked curiously. "It is a rather serious accusation, you know?"

  "I know that, sir. But when we fought with each other, he said that he was under orders to do so. Whose order would he follow but Voldemort's?" Harry explained.

  "I see." Dumbledore said musingly. He got to his feet and walked to the fireplace, picking up a pot as he went. When he reached the fireplace, he took a pinch of power from the pot and tossed it into the fire, calling out "Severus Snape!" as he did. The fire roared and turned a bright green color, and Snape's face appeared in the fire.

  "What is it, Headmaster?" Snape asked harshly. "You know what time it is?"

  "Sorry to disturb you, Severus." Dumbledore said mildly. "But there's something I want to ask you." He gestured behind him at Harry and the tied up Malfoy. "Harry here just told me that Malfoy had tried to kidnap Miss Weasley under the orders of Voldemort. Have you heard anything about this?"

  "Voldemort still hasn't contacted me, Headmaster." Snape replied thoughtfully. " I don't think he really trust me yet. But it don't seem like him to do things in such a roundabout way." He fixed his eyes on Harry. "Could it be Potter's idea to put the blame on the Dark Lord? Draco and Potter weren't exactly best friends, you know."

  "How could you say that?" Ginny busted out. "I was there too. I head him say that he's under orders to kidnap me!"

  "It's not your place to speak, Girl!" Snape replied with a scaling glare at Ginny. "Besides, you're Potter's girlfriend. Of course you'll side with him."

  "What!?" Ginny cried out, unbelieving.

  "That's enough." Dumbledore said, his tone booking no argument. "Severus, I don't think Harry's lying. Can you check into that?"

  Snape seemed to consider it. "Very well, headmaster. I'll look into it. I don't think there's anything to find though." With that parting shot and a last look of contempt at Harry, Snape's head disappeared from the fire.  

  Dumbledore turned from the fireplace and returned to his chair, sitting down heavily. "Well, with that over, you should get some sleep."

  "But what about Malfoy?" Ron spoke up, pointing to Malfoy

  "I'll deal with him." Dumbledore replied. "Don't you worry."

  "But…" Ron started to say, but Harry place a hand on his shoulders to stop him.

  "Thanks for your time, Headmaster." Harry said, standing up, Ginny just beside him.

  "Anytime, Harry." Dumbledore smiled as they made their way out of his office, Ron casting a few looks back at Malfoy. When they had all left, Dumbledore stood up again and walked over to Malfoy. "Well, no rest for the weary."

~~~~~~~~~~

   Hermione sat before the fire, her mind a complete blank. Harry's rejection of her, gentle as he had been, coupled with Ron's confession, had left her utterly confused. While Ron had liked her, she did not return the feeling. How could she, when her own feelings were for Harry? But Harry was with Ginny, not her. And her own confession just now had made them awkward with each other. And Ron seemed to be angry with her for some reason. Just thinking about it made her head ache. Hermione pressed her hand against her head, wishing that her feelings would just vanish. Feelings seemed only to complicate things.

  The sound of the door to the common room opening reached Hermione's ears. She curled up in her seat and shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She was too confused to face them now. Especially Ginny. She really didn't want to see Ginny at this particular moment.

  "Where's Hermione?" Harry asked. "You said she was waiting up for us?" 

  "How would I know?" Ron answered in a somewhat louder tone. "She could have gone to bed already."

  "Shh!" Ginny hushed them. "Look. She's asleep on the chair."

  Silence followed, but Hermione could hear their footsteps on the floor, coming closer to her.

  "Well, how are we going to get her up to the dorm?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

  "We can wake her up." Harry suggested.

  "No." Ginny disagree. "Let her sleep. She must be tired from waiting for us."

  "Why not just carry her up?" Ron asked, not brothering to lower his voice.

  "That's an idea." Harry said. "Why don't you do it?"

  "Me?" Ron gave a short laugh. "I couldn't care less. I'm going to bed." With that, Hermione could hear a pair of feet walking away.

  "What's up with him?" Harry sounded puzzled. "Did they have another augment?" 

  "I'm not sure, Harry." Ginny replied slowly. "But I think I know why. I'll have to ask Hermione something though."

  "Well, that still leave us with the problem of getting Hermione up to bed." Harry said.

  "You can carry her, can't you?" Ginny said in a teasing tone.

  "Well… yeah, but…" Harry replied hesitantly.

  "But what?" Ginny asked

  "You know she… liked me and all…"

  "And?"

  "I just don't feel very comfortable carrying her to bed."

  Ginny laughed. "You? Afraid to carry your best friend to bed?"

  "Yeah, something like that." Harry said, sounding a little sheepish. "She _is_ a girl after all."

  "Don't worry. She wouldn't mind." Ginny said. "Besides, she's too heavy for me to carry."

  "Well… If it's alright with you…?"

  "Go ahead. She can't spend the night here."

  For a moment, Hermione debated with herself if she should allow Harry to carry her. Normally she would be overjoyed at the chance to be close to Harry, but now that she knew Harry didn't return her feelings, and with Ginny nearby, she felt really awkward. Still, any chance to be close to Harry would be appreciated. Before she could continue her self-debate, she felt Harry's hands slipping under her head and her knees, and she was lifted up to press against Harry's chest.

  "Lead the way, Ginny." Harry said, grunting slightly under Hermione's weight.

  Her choice taken for her, Hermione decided to enjoy this ride while she could. Trying to be inconspicuous, Hermione cuddled a little closer to Harry. All too soon the ride ended, and she felt herself gently placed on a bed.

  "Don't tell her about this, Ginny." Harry whispered. 

  "Why not?" Ginny whispered back.

  "She'll have my head if she knew I carried her."

  Ginny gave a short laugh. "Whatever. You better return to your dorm, Harry."

  "Right. Goodnight." Harry said. Hermione heard the door to her dorm open, and the sound of footsteps walking away. When the door closed, Hermione curled up into a ball and silently started to cry.


	8. Spirited away

  **A/N**: Sorry for the very long delay. I had recently changed my Internet service from cable to broadband, and that delay took almost 2 months!

  Thanks as always for your kind reviews. This chapter might be a little short, but I'm pressed for time these days. What with school and jobs and everything else, My time to write has been almost nonexistent… But I'll try to get out the remainder chapters faster. 

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

Dreaming of you  
Chapter 8 

Spirited away

  "Harry? Harry, wake up." A soft but insistent voice said from somewhere just beside his ear. Harry stirred and turned on his side, trying to escape that sound that was trying to disrupt his sleep. He even went so far as to cover his ear with his arm to block out the voice. It seemed to have worked for a moment.

  Then he felt a hand lifting his arm away from his ear. Before he could really register that fact, the voice returned, magnified by a hundred times. "HARRY JAMES POTTER!!! WAKE UP!!!"

  Harry shot up like a catapult, moving to an upright position in an instant; his eyes popped open, wide and blank. "Finally up are you?" the voice said. "Took you long enough…"

  Before the voice could finish her sentence, however, Harry's eyes slowly drooped closed, and he dropped back onto his bed, already on his way to sleep.

  The mysterious person sighed and walked away. Harry heard her footsteps grew softer and softer, before disappearing altogether. He allowed himself a small smile of victory. Now he can go back to his interrupted sleep…

  A sudden wave of freezing cold water rather abruptly proved him wrong. For the second time Harry shot upright. This time the difference was that he was suddenly very wet, very cold and very much awake.

  "At last." The voice laughed from beside him. Harry shot that person, whoever she is, an annoyed glare, which steadily grew wider as he took in the identity of the person who woke him up in such a shocking manner.

  "Star? What are you doing here?" Harry sputtered, half in surprise and half from all that water that had somehow found its way into his mouth. Coughing to rid himself of all the water, Harry glance around himself. "Am I in Tel'anran'rhiod again?"

  "Of course." Star answered with a small smile, putting away the pail she had been holding in her hand. "Didn't I tell before that I can only appear in this form in Tel'anran'rhiod?

  "Nice decoration." Harry observed as he looked around him properly, mopping his face in the process. "Makes a nice change from before."

  Instead of that black room Harry found himself in the first time he visited this strange land, he seemed to be in a tent of some sort that appeared to be made of silk. It was round in shape, but Harry couldn't see the edge of the tent where the tent wall is suppose to meet the floor. He had the strangest feeling that he could keep walking in one direction and never touch the silken wall. The bed he thought he was sitting on turn out to be silk cushions, and more of them were scattered all over the place. 

  "I'm glad you liked it." Star said a little modestly. "I found the idea in one of your books."

  "_The Arabian Nights?_" Harry ventured a guess. When Star nodded happily, he continued. "Well, you've succeeded alright. No one could have mistaken this."

  "And the clothes too?" Star asked, twirling around to show Harry her clothes. Instead of the simple blue robes that Harry saw on her the last time he saw her, she was now wearing a piece of cloth covering her chest, and a short vest over it. Super baggy pants covered her legs, leaving her feet clear. Her hair was caught back by an elaborate headdress that seemed to be made of golden chain. "Do they match?"

  As Harry looked over Star, a sudden thought appeared in his head. The last few times Harry saw Star, she seemed so much older then him. But now, for some reason, Star seemed to be almost the same age as him. Curious…

  "Harry?" Star asked when Harry did not answer her question. Hesitantly, half afraid Harry had fallen asleep again, Star put her hand in front of Harry's face and waved a little. But Harry was so deep in thought that he did not even see the hand. When that failed, Star stepped back to think for a moment. As far as she knows, there can be only one reason why a boy would black out like that.

  "Ah… I know what you're thinking, you bad boy you…" Star said in a sing-song manner. That managed to wake Harry up.

  "What?" Harry asked, as his eyes come back in focus to see Star smiling a strange smile at him.

  "You must be think of your _girlfriend…_" Here Star wiggled her finger to represent quotation marks as she stressed the word girlfriend. "…in this outfit, aren't you?"

  ""What!? But…but I didn't…" Too late, Harry's imagination went into hyper drive mode as Star's suggestive theme entered his brain. Because of the intensive knowledge Harry had of Ginny, the image his imagination produced looked extremely real. To make matters worse, because Harry is now in Tel'anran'rhiod, the land of dreams, where reality was controlled by thoughts, the space just beside Star was suddenly filled in with the image that Harry had imagined.

  "Oh my…" Star said, sounding both surprised and impressed at the same time. She stood up to examine the image of Ginny wearing the same outfit as Star. "This is really very good, Harry." She complimented him. 

  "It's all your fault, Star." Harry grumbled. "You made me imagine it…"

  "Well, aren't you doing it in the first place?" Star answered back with that strange half smile.

  "Of course not!" Harry replied, sounding shocked. "I wouldn't think of this sort of thing…" He took a look at the image of Ginny before continuing. "… If you hadn't made me, that is."

  "Then what were you thinking of?" Star asked, sitting back down, even as the image began to fade, now that Harry's thoughts had moved away from the subject of Ginny in eastern skimpy clothes.

  "Of your age." Harry answered simply.

  "What? Why?" Star asked again.

  "Well, when I first saw you, you looked like a adult, you know, all ladylike." Harry explained. "But when I look at you now, you seemed to be close to my age. I was just wondering about it."

  "Oh, so that's it." Star said. She thought about it for a little while. "In a way you're both right and wrong."

  "What do you mean?" Harry asked.

  "Well, stars live for a far longer time then you humans, for one thing, so in terms of years, I'm far older then you are." Star answered, as her voice took on a distinctive teacher's voice. "But in terms of age in relative to the other stars, I'll be much closer to your age."

  "Ok, that answers one question of mine." Harry said. "Now I have another one."

  "What is it?"

  "Why am I here?" Harry asked it in a serious manner. "Is there something you wanna show me?"

  At Harry's question, Star's face grew somber. "Indeed there is." Star said in a serious tone. "Something rather important." She stood up and motioned for Harry to follow her. Puzzled by the sudden change in Star's expression, Harry stood up and followed.

  As it turned out, there was an exit to the tent. Star walked right up to a huge pile of cushions and pushed them to one side. Hidden under the cushions was a trapdoor. 

  "Did you notice that you did not have any nightmares involving Voldemort anymore?" Star asked as she knee to open the trapdoor. 

  "But I do." Harry answered. "Every night."

  "You do?" Star seemed surprised. "That couldn't be…" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell me about your dreams." She said finally.

  "Every night I'll see myself back at the graveyard… and see Cedric's death again…" Harry obliged. As he spoke, the light within the tent seemed to grow dimmer, seemingly reflecting Harry's depression at the memories of Voldemort's return.

  "No, that's not what I mean." Star interrupted. "Those dreams you had were normal dreams. Things that happened in the past. What I mean are dreams that happen in the now, like the time you dreamed of the muggle's death at Voldemort's hands."

  "Oh, those types… No, I did not have any of those for quite some time." Harry said, as Star continued to pull open the trapdoor. Not since I returned from Hogwarts last term…"

  "Just as I thought." Star said with a certain satisfaction. "Because your blood's running in Voldemort's veins too, those dreams had also ceased to appear. It would be like dreaming about yourself at this moment; pointless."

  "Really? I didn't know that." Harry replied even as Star succeeded in pulling open the trapdoor, reveling a hole under it, and lowered herself onto the ladder fixed to the side of the wall.

  "Well, now you do." Star said before ducking her head into the hole. "Hurry up, Harry. This night wouldn't last forever, you know." Her voice echoed up to him.

~~~~~~~~~~

  In the girls' dorm, all was silent. It was the first day of school after all, and the girls were all very tired from the long train trip. In one of the corner of the room, however, a small creature lay there, to all intent and purpose invisible to the occupants of the room, hidden as he was under the small table. He wasn't asleep, of course. His mission was too important for him to afford that luxury. So he had stayed, hidden and unseen, but able to see everything in the room. His orders were very simple. To stun the girl that was with Potter and to bring her to the Dark Lord. 

  Wormtail stirred, trying to keep his silver paw from knocking against the floor as he waited for the signal to begin his mission. His mouth was aching from the strain of carrying the portkey that was to transport him and his prisoner to the Dark Lord. But he dare not put the object down to rest his mouth. The Dark Lord was most firm with his orders. He wasn't allow to let go of the portkey at all cost.

  Then he felt it; a small jot of pain ran from one his paw, where the dark mark would be if he were human. He scampered to his feet, not caring about the noise of his paw anymore. He would be able to complete his mission and be out of there before anyone woke up enough to find him. Dragging his burden behind him, Wormtail made his way over to the bed where he had seen Potter carry his girl to. He smiled a little to himself. Both Potter and his sidekick, that Weasley that was his former owner, did not even notice his presence in the room. Perhaps the Dark Lord overestimated Potter…

  He reached the bed at last, and started pulling himself up the bedclothes paw over paw, stopping only to pull the portkey up after him. When he reached the top at last, Wormtail ran over to where the girl lay sleeping, curled into a tight ball. The place was dark, lit only by the moonlight, so Wormtail had a little problem finding the hands of the girl. When he found them, he pulled the portkey up towards the hands and laid the portkey on them. He then ran up the girl's body to sit on her shoulders. The girl stirred while he was halfway up, but luckily did not wake up. Any minute now…

  The portkey flashed suddenly, and Wormtail felt the familiar pull of the portkey as he and the girl was transported away.

~~~~~~~~~

  The flash was not bright, so no one woke up. When it faded, all that was left behind was a pillar of green smoke that gradually formed itself into the dark mark to float over the empty bed of Hermione Granger… 


	9. The Mirror of Reflection

**  A/N: **We're near the end now. One or two more chapters should finish off this story, and I hope it'll really be finished this time. 

  I would like to thank Cygnus Crux, Mystical and Bucky for their reviews. They kept me going when I thought I should just throw this story away and start a new one. I hope I did not disappoint them too much with this chapter. As to your questions, Bucky, I do not know myself. Harry did not exactly have lots of time for that, did he? I'll try to do better next time though.

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belongs to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'.

Dreaming of you  
Chapter 9 

The Mirror of Reflection

  _It's huge!_ Was Harry's first thought. The ladder had ended in a small alcove that opened out to a circular cavern so big that Harry could not see the far side. The walls that he _could_ see were filled with crystals, crystals of different shape and sizes, each one shining with a light that came from inside, a kind of rainbow fire that lit up the cavern like a sun, yet gentle as a mist on the eyes. At the center of this vast cavern stood a mirror. Tall and straight it hung, halfway from the floor and the ceiling, without any form of support that Harry could see. It did not reflect any of the light that fell on it, but absorbed them all into itself, rather like an abyss. 

  "Where is this place?" Harry asked Star, his voice hushed. To speak louder would be… inappropriate.

  "This is the Mirror of Reflections." Star answered, also in a whisper. Sometime during the trip down, Star had discarded her eastern clothing and had reverted back to her normal blue robe. "We use it to find things in your world."

  "What do you mean by 'find'?" Harry asked curiously.

  "We can find anything anyone had lose, or was stolen from." Star clarified. "You've heard stories of how some people lose something precious, dreamed about finding it in a certain place, woke up, went to that certain place, and really found it?"

  "Yeah. I've heard some stories along that line." Harry answered.

  "That wasn't just a story." Star replied. "Those people were brought to Tel'anran'rhiod and this mirror."

  "I see…" Harry said. "So what are we looking for?"

  "Someone that had been kidnapped by Voldemort." Star answered as she began walking towards the hanging mirror. 

  "But why do I have to be here too?" Harry asked as he half-jogged to keep up with Star.

  "Because of the connection." Star said over her shoulders.

  "What connection?" Harry asked, even though he had a suspicion of what connection Star's talking about. Ginny had told him about their bond together, due to him saving her life in the Chamber of Secrets.

  "The connection one person has with another." Star said, confirming Harry's suspicion.

  "The person kidnapped… it's not Ginny, isn't it?" Harry asked nervously, feeling his heart flopping about. There's still a chance, a slight chance that it's not her…

  "No, it's not Ginny." Star replied. "It's Hermione."

  "Oh man…" Harry's feeling rose on hearing it's not Ginny, only to drop down again to hear its Hermione. "That's almost as bad…" He was so preoccupied with the information that he didn't notice that they had reached the mirror. Only Star's hand pulling at him prevented him from walking smack into the mirror.

  "Ok, Harry. This is what we do." Star said decisively. "You find Hermione through the mirror, while I contact Firenze. When you find her, I'll pass the word to Firenze, and he can go tell Dumbledore. Dumbledore will know what to do."

  "Firenze?" Harry asked, snapping out of his thoughts. "The centaur?"

  "You know him?" Star sounded a little surprised. Centaurs seldom interact with humans.

  "Yeah." Harry answered. "He saved me in my first year."

  "I see…" Star said. "Back to our topic, you understand what you have to do?"

  "Sort of." Harry replied dubiously. "I have to find Hermione with this mirror. But how do I do that?"

  "First, think of Hermione." Star instructed. "Her person, her feelings, what she is inside."

  "Ok" Harry replied, bringing up an image of Hermione in his mind. While he did not have quite the grasp of Hermione as he did of Ginny, he had not been Hermione's best friend for almost five years for nothing. "What next."

  "Reach out and touch the mirror." Star continued. "And call for her in your mind, focusing the thought through the mirror."

  Harry walked forward, holding out one hand in front of him. When he touched the surface of the mirror, a jolt of freezing coldness ran up his arm, almost causing him to snatch his hand away from the intense pain. He grounded his teeth in determination, however, and pressed in even farther, trying to ignore the pain. '_Hermione! Where are you?_' He cried out in his mind, focusing it all onto his hand to the mirror.

  Instantly he felt a pull on his insides somewhat similar to a portkey. The cold feeling creped up his arm, numbing it in the process. Suddenly, Harry's senses seemed to exploded; sight, sound, taste, smell, touch all came flooding through Harry, almost overwhelming Harry's mind in it's intensity. His mind seemed to have became a giant sieve with only one hole, a hole of a certain size, made for only one thing, or a person, in this case. Things too large or too small for the hole fell through it, or around it, or past it.

  At last he felt something that fit the sense of Hermione he held to inside his head like a key sliding into a keyhole. "_Hermione? Is that you?_"

~~~~~~~~~~

  Hermione stirred, dimly hearing someone calling out to her. Then she heard another voice, much louder then the first, suddenly shouted almost into her ear.

  "Wormtail, you complete moron!" That voice roared. "That's the wrong person!" 

  Hermione cracked opened one eye in annoyance, ready to lash out at that person. What she saw dried out her mouth, and she suddenly couldn't make a sound.

  She was in some kind of large chamber made of green blocks of stone. At one end of the chamber was a dais with a throne-like chair on it. Someone was seated on it, a thin, skeleton-like man with wide eyes that glowed a fearful red, a large snake coiled around him. He had a small smile on his face, a smile with the warmth of a glacier. Though she had not seen him before, Hermione was instantly convinced that this person could only be Lord Voldemort.

  "How could you make such a big mistake?! You were the one who pointed her out to us!" the voice continued, growing louder as he went on. Hermione turned the other way to see who it was shouting. 

  The first thing she noticed was the huge pair of door that stood at the other end of the chamber. A man was cowering near them, trying to escape the kicks of another man standing over him. Hermione was about to shout for the kicks to stop when she noticed that the person was Wormtail. The shout died away.

  "Cease your attack, Lucius." Hermione heard another voice said from behind her, a dry and hissing voice. "What would our guest think to see you so cruel to our dear Wormtail?"

  "Yes, my Lord." The man who was kicking Wormtail said, stopping his attack and stepping away from him. Now that Hermione could see his face, she saw that it was indeed Lucius Malfoy.

  "So, Wormtail…" Voldemort hissed as he stepped down from his throne and walked towards Wormtail. "You messed up again…"

  "I'm sorry, My Lord!" Wormtail brawled. "I thought she was Potter's girlfriend when I saw him carrying her into the room."

  "You know the penalties for failure, don't you?" Voldemort said pleasantly, ignoring Wormtail's blabbering. "_Crucio!_" 

  As Wormtail started screaming in pain, Hermione close her eyes. '_This isn't real._' She thought desperately. '_This is just a dream. It can't be real._'

  '_Hermione?_' Over Wormtail's howls of pain, Hermione suddenly heard another voice, echoing inside her head. '_Is that you?_'

  '_Harry? _' Hermione asked in her head, her eyes flying open, feeling more certain that it's a dream. After all, you don't hear your best friend's voice in your head everyday, don't you?

~~~~~~~~~~

  "I got her." Harry cried out, his hand still on the mirror. Star jumped a little. It had been almost five minutes since Harry last made a sound.

  "Great." Star answered. "Now follow the thought back to her."

  "Ok." Harry said before refocusing his thoughts on the mirror, searching for that thought that he felt before, the one that felt like Hermione. When he found it, he followed it back to its point of origin. It was almost like following a string in a cat's cradle, or in a ball of seriously messed up ball of yard, but Harry managed it somehow. When he reached the beginning of the thought, the mirror suddenly rippled and stretched, pulling back to show a room made of green blocks. Hermione lay at the center of the room, hands and feet bound together. A sudden shriek of pain torn through the mirror, surprising Harry. Then the view changed, turning to face the source of the shriek.

  "Did you get the place?" Harry said tensely as the view showed Voldemort with his ward trained on another person, who was screaming in pain. Harry recognize the signs. The Cruciatus curse.

  "Give me another moment." Star said just as tensely as she pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a muggle's handphone out of her robes.

  "Hurry up." Harry said, his voice strained. "I can't hold it much longer." The cold had numbed his hand, but the pain still continued to burn in his arm. Harry feared that he would have to let go soon, or lose that arm…

  "Firenze?" Star called, talking into that handphone-like thing she was holding. "We've got the place…"

~~~~~~~~~~

  "Right" Firenze said, as Star finished telling him all the information she could get from the mirror. "I'll be going to the castle now."

  "Please hurry." Firenze heard Star say. "That girl's life depend on you now."

  Firenze did not reply to that, but wheeled about on his hide feet and prepared to gallop to Hogwarts. Before he could take two steps, however, a black shape clashed directly in front of him.

  "What do you think you're doing, Firenze?" Bane demanded. "Have you not interfered enough in human business? Are you some kind of half-ailed mule, running errands for them?"

  "I am just following orders for the planets." Firenze growled in that half-patient tone that you use when explaining something to someone for the thousand time, pawing on the ground in impatience.

  "The planets!" Bane snorted. "I heard her too. That's no more then a shooting star!"

  "So?" Firenze replied with a toss of his head. "You know of the Darks Lords and how they treat us centaurs. I set myself against him, Bane. With humans and shooting star by my side if need be."

  With that, Firenze neatly sidestepped Bane and galloped away towards Hogwarts.

  "Funny…" Bane mused, as he watched Firenze's vanishing form, making no move to stop him. "That sounded very familiar…" 

~~~~~~~~~~

  Professor Snape was just finishing his rounds for the night when a sudden thundering was heard from the huge main gates that leads to the Hogwart's grounds. It was a testimony as to how loud the person was banging when you consider that the castle was a very long way from the gates, and that Snape was standing behind almost a foot of solid stone wall, and yet the thundering still managed to rattle Snape's teeth. It was a miracle that none of the students was awaken by that pounding. But then again, most students sleep behind a thick layer of silencing charms, designed to keep the snoring of their bunkmates from overwhelming their ears, so maybe it's not that miraculous after all…

  Snape hurried up the winding path to the main gates, fingering his wand as he went. Judging by the sound of the knocking, it couldn't be a human, and what was non-human was dangerous, at least that's the way Snape thinks. This close to the doors, Snape's teeth were not the only things rattling. It almost seemed to Snape that he could feel his brains jumping around in his skull.

  When Snape reached the gates, he took a moment to ready his wand, took a deep breath, and flung opened the gates… Just in time to receive a hoof print on his face.

  "Oh! I'm so sorry, human." Firenze said on realizing that his fore hoofs had hit flash instead of hard wood. "I didn't see you there." He reached down and tugged Snape back on his feet without any apparent effort.

  It took Snape a couple of moments to recover from the kick on the head. When he had at last shaken off the last of the galaxies swimming around his head, he fixed a baleful glare at Firenze, who just looked back innocently. "What do you want?" Snape finally growled out.

  "Would you be so good as to direct me to the headmaster's chambers?" Firenze asked pleasantly. "I have something to discuss with him."

  "Forget it." Snape said shortly. "I'm not disturbing the Headmaster's sleep, not for a centaur." With that, Snape turned around, a little wobbly, to say the truth, and started for the castle. He did not get very far.

  "Listen here, little man." Firenze said, discarding the pleasant tone even as he reached out and picked Snape up by the scuff of his robes. "This has to do with the Dark Lord, so stop that high-and-mighty act and get me to Dumbledore's office at once!" That last part was almost shouted into Snape's ears, and then Firenze dropped Snape on his butt.

  Snape glared at the centaur, which Firenze returned calmly, arms folded over his chest, one foreleg raised as if to step down on Snape.

  "Fine." Snape snapped out at last. "I'll bring you to the Headmaster." He turned and walked towards the castle, not looking back to see if Firenze was following.

  "You have no idea how grateful that made me, human." Firenze said dryly as he clopped after Snape.

  "Don't be." Snape replied over his shoulders, just as dryly.

~~~~~~~~~~

  Dumbledore sat back in his chair, staring up at his ceiling reflectively. Malfoy lay just beside him on the floor, still out like a light. Dumbledore had left him there, deciding that he wasn't up to dealing with Malfoy yet. Besides, he had something else to contemplate. Just after Harry Potter left with his friends, Dumbledore had a strange feeling that something was about to happen. Something big. Dumbledore did not usually have this feeling, and everything he felt like this, something did happen. He had learned not to ignore this feeling.

  A single knock on his door broke him out of his thoughts. Then the door opened and Snape entered, followed by a centaur.

  "Headmaster Dumbledore?" The centaur asked before he was even halfway inside the room. "I have a massage from a shooting star. The one you know as Star." 

  "Oh?" Dumbledore sat up straighter, "What's the massage?"

  "She asked me to ask you to gather your allies." The centaur replied. "She has you-know-who's location and thought you might be interested in that information."

  "Wait a minute." Snape interrupted. "How is it possible for a centaur to know something we've be tearing the whole wizardry world apart to look for? And to offer that information just like that?"

  "My information is true." The centaur said stiffly.

  "And why are you suddenly offering it up to us?" Snape sneered. "You centaurs were never known for your generosity with information."

  "That is enough, Severus." Dumbledore spoke. "I believe this centaur."

  "But Headmaster!" Snape protested. "It could be a trap! How do you know…"

  Dumbledore held up a hand. "That's alright, Severus. This centaur is trustworthy."

  "What makes you so sure, Headmaster?" Snape demanded.

  "Simple." Dumbledore smiled. "He knows the name Star. Only five person knows of that name."

  "What?" Snape said, astonished.

  "You don't have to know." Dumbledore said. "Just trust me."

  "You know I do trust you, Headmaster." Snape replied in a somewhat softer tone.

  "Good." Dumbledore nodded his head. "We have much to do, and little time to do it. Severus, contact Sirius and the old crowd. You know who they are."

  "At once." Snape replied, and turned to exit the room.

  "Oh, and send Minerva to me, if you would." Dumbledore called after him. Snape did not answer, but nodded and disappear from the door.

  "Now, if you would tell me more about this place where Voldemort is hiding…" Dumbledore turned to Firenze, his hands reaching for a quill.


	10. Through the Mirror

**A/N: **School is evil, I tell you. They keep me from writing, what with all the homework they give and all… Of course, a new PS2 and FFX didn't help matters too. But here's chapter 10 at last. Hope you enjoy it.

  Thanks to both mystical and bucky for your kind reviews. Really, without you guys, I would've thrown this fic out of the window.

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belongs to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'.

Dreaming of you  
Chapter 10 

Through the Mirror

  "I'm sure you'll do better next time, wouldn't you, Wormtail?" Voldemort said pleasantly, a slight smile on his face, as he lowered his ward. Wormtail took a deep breath, and nodded fervently. He was shaking all over, the result of almost ten minutes of the Cruciatus curse. His nerves still felt as if they were on fire. 

  For some reason, Hermione found herself starting to feel sorry for Wormtail. Then she remembered that it was Wormtail that caused Harry to lose his parents in the first place, and it was also because of Wormtail that Voldemort could return. Then it was easy to turn away from his pitiful form on the ground, and to harden her heart against his sobbing breaths.

  But her movement as she looked away had not gone unnoticed. Voldemort turned and fixed his burning eyes on Hermione. Hermione hurriedly closed her eyes too late.

  "So, our guest seemed to be awake." He said then, in his soft hissing voice. He walked over to her and leaned over her. "Aren't you, my dear?"

  "What do you want?" Hermione said almost in a whisper, trying her hardest to keep the quivering from her voice, and only succeeding partially. She kept her eyes close, however. If she wasn't looking at Voldemort in the eye, she was fairly sure that she wouldn't be overwhelm by the fear running amok in her mind. Fairly…

  "What do I want?" Voldemort repeated the question softy, as though to himself. He straighten up and spoke in a louder voice. "Why, not you, to be sure." He turned about and started walking back to his throne. "What I want, the person I want… is Harry Potter." Voldemort said. "Wormtail is suppose to bring me Potter's girl, since Dumbledore appeared to cast so many protective charms around Potter that Wormtail can't even get close to the boy." He stopped and sat down on his throne before continuing, the snake waving her way back onto her master's body. "But Wormtail failed, as you know. He brought you back instead."

  "Master! I'm truly sorry for this. I thought…" Wormtail's voice pleaded from where he lay, as he half-raised himself on one knee.

  "Oh be silence, Wormtail." Voldemort snapped irritably. "This isn't your place to speak." Wormtail sank back down onto the ground.

  "However, all is not lost yet." Voldemort continued. "From what Wormtail said before, you are one of Potter's closest friends. I'm sure he'll come when I tell him that I have you in my hands."

  "Oh no, he wouldn't." Hermione said loudly, her mind racing. "He hates me now."

  "Oh?" Voldemort said, not seeming surprised at all. "Why would he hate you?"

  "I…err…" Hermione cast around her brain for something for Harry to hate her for, but came up blank.

  "Go on." Voldemort said encouragingly. "Tell me why he would hate one of his closest friend."

  "Err… I told him that now's the wrong time to get a girlfriend." Hermione, finding nothing else that could cause Harry to hate her, pulled something out of the blue. "The OWLs are just around the corner, and he should spent his time studying instead of wasting it on a girl."

  "Oh… Just because of that, Harry will hate you?" Voldemort said with a small smile. "I guess we can't use you to blackmail Harry then…"

  Hermione found herself tensing up. The tone was all wrong. It was as if Voldemort was just teasing her, playing around with her. 

  "_Crucio!_" Voldemort said it rather casually. And Hermione's nerves burst into flames all at once. She bit back her cry of pain, however, and clamped her teeth onto her lips, drawing blood. But she did not notice. All she knew was that the duller pain in her lips served as a distraction from the shaper, more intense pain from the Cruciatus curse.

  "That is the prize for lying to Lord Voldemort, mudblood." Malfoy said spitefully from his place beside the door. Hermione heard him as if from a long distance away. The pain was too great for her to spare much attention to anything else. Then she heard something. Something that cut through the pain like a knife. A voice that she recognize almost at once. "_Hermione! Hold on. Help is on it's way._"

~~~~~~~~~~

  "I have to help her!" Harry cried as he watched Voldemort use the Cruciatus curse on Hermione, one hand sunk to the elbow inside the mirror. "Star! Send me back at once!"

  "Don't worry, Harry." Star said soothingly, trying without much success to calm Harry down. "Dumbledore is no his way even as we speak. Hermione will be fine."

  "I can't just wait for Dumbledore to get there. Hermione would be dead by then." Harry half-shouted, concern for his friend had sharpen his tone. He watched helplessly as a small stream of blood flowed from the side of Hermione's mouth. "Is there any other faster way to get to her?"

  "Well…" Star said, a little hesitantly. "You could use the mirror to reach her…"

  "How?" Harry interrupted. "Tell me!"

  "The mirror is a gateway of sorts connecting Tel'anran'rhiod and your world." Star said. "You can use the mirror to see things on your world, and also to travel to the place you see…"

  Before she could finish her sentence, Harry had one foot on the frame of the mirror, and had pulled himself on the mirror. "So this mirror can bring me to Hermione?" Harry asked.

  "Yes… But…"

  "That's good enough for me." Harry said, and prepared to jump into the mirror.

  "Wait, Harry." Another voice shout from behind him. Surprised, Harry turned around to see Ginny running across the cavern towards the mirror. She came up to the mirror panting.

  "Wait, Harry." She said again, when she had caught her breath.

  "I can't." Harry replied. "Hermione is in danger."

  "I know." Ginny said, "But you shouldn't go alone."

  "There's no time to look for help." Harry said impatiently.

  "You don't have to." Ginny said, smiling. "I'll go with you."

  "What?" Harry exclaimed. "But it's dangerous!"

  "I know" Ginny said calmly. "But I'm going anyway."

  "This is Voldemort we're talking about." Harry said, trying to persuade Ginny to stay. "What if something happen to you?"

  "Don't worry." Ginny said. "I have you to protect me, right?"

  "Even so…" Harry said. "But I can't protect you from everything."

  "Don't worry." Ginny said again. "I do know how so take care of myself."

  "It's just too dangerous." Harry replied stubbornly. "I can't let you take the risk."

  "Harry." Ginny said patiently. "Hermione is not only your friend, you know. She's mine too. I want to save her too."

  "But…" Harry finally gave up and turned to Star. "Say something, Star. You know how dangerous Voldemort is."

  "I think Ginny is right." Star replied. "On your own, the mirror is very dangerous, but the two of you together might just make it. Especially you two."

  "What?" Harry stared at Star, unable to believe his ears.

  "See." Ginny said with a small smile. "I told you so."

  "There's no time to loss." Star reminded Harry. "Just remember to keep the connection between you and Hermione."

  "But…" Harry was torn between wanting to keep Ginny here, out of harm's way, and rescuing Hermione. Both mean a lot to him, and he wasn't sure what he should do.

  "Oh stop wasting time and get going already." Ginny said, shoving Harry into the mirror. Harry gave a surprised yelp as the mirror seemed to swallow him. Then he was gone. Ginny pulled herself up onto the mirror too, and turned around to look at Star. "Wish us luck." She said, and jumped in after Harry.

  "Luck, Ginny, Harry." Star said then, to the empty room. In front of her, the mirror rippled and went back to it's former black color.

~~~~~~~~~~  

  Dumbledore paced around inside his room, walking the length of the room and back again, his brows drawn up in thought. The location that Firenze told him was surprising, to say the least. The old Riddle House was build on top of a hill, and according to Firenze, the hill was riddled with caves and caverns. Voldemort was hiding in one of them.

  He had to hand it to Voldemort, that's for sure. Dumbledore didn't even guess that he would hide so close to the first place the Ministry of Magic would search, not that Voldemort needed to worry about it, of course. Fudge was still trying his hardest to ignore the fact that Voldemort had actually returned, and so the official forces had done next to nothing. Oh, there were a few sweeps, and security was increased in some areas, but that was due mainly to Dumbledore's influence with the Aurors in question then on any orders from the top. Sometimes, it was almost enough to make Dumbledore scream in frustration, the way Fudge obstinately refused to face facts and reality. Not that he would do that, of course. Too many people depended on him for him to afford that. But sometimes, in the privacy of his own room, He had to admit that it was very temping indeed.

  A movement in his magical mirror caused Dumbledore to look up. McGonagall had just rushed pass, and was hammering at the door even before Dumbledore could register her presence on the mirror. 

  "Come in." Dumbledore called out, opening the door as he did.

  "I've found out who were the missing students, Headmaster." McGonagall said in a rush, not brothering to catch her breath.

  "Who?" Dumbledore asked, as he sat back down on his chair and motioned McGonagall to do the same.

  "There were more then one missing, Headmaster." McGonagall said, also sitting down.

  "What?" Dumbledore cried out, shocked. "But Firenze told me that only one girl that was kidnapped."

  "In a sense, he was right, sir." McGonagall replied. " The dark mark was found floating above the bed of Hermione Granger. Traces of a portkey's magic signature were also found around the bed."

  "And the other missing students?" Dumbledore asked, though he could guess who the other two were. 

  "Potter and Weasley, Sir." Was the answer.

  "I thought as much." Dumbledore replied, nodding his head. "Any traces of any magical activities?"

  "Nothing." McGonagall answered. "They seemed to have vanished into the thin air."

  "Most particular…" Dumbledore said, stroking his beard.

  "Indeed." McGonagall agreed. "Ronald was most upset about it."

  "What?" Dumbledore cried out again. "But you said he disappeared along with Harry."

  "No, it wasn't Ronald that was kidnapped" McGonagall answered. "It was his sister."

  "Of course! Tel'anran'rhiod!" Dumbledore exclaimed, having hit on the only possibility. 

  "But they didn't bring their wands along." McGonagall said, holding out three wands. 

  "I think it's a safe bet that Harry and Ginny would be on their way to rescue Hermione now." Dumbledore said, taking the wands and weighing them in his hands absently.

  "Wouldn't they be in the disadvantage without their wands?" McGonagall cried out, standing up. "I must stop them!" So saying, McGonagall turned and walked towards the door with determined steps.

  "And how would you find them?" Dumbledore asked from his chair.

  McGonagall looked back at Dumbledore helplessly. He was right, she knew. But she couldn't just let mere children fight with the Dark Lord. It was a job for the adults. 

  "We do have a surer way." Dumbledore said as he too stood up. "We send them their wands by owl."

  McGonagall stared at Dumbledore, surprised. Trust Dumbledore to come up with such a wild but practical idea. Then she saw Fawkes flying up to Dumbledore and landing on his shoulders. Dumbledore looked surprised, but also pleased. Fawkes picked at the wands with his beak

  "What's this?" Dumbledore asked in amazement. "You want to send this to Harry?"

  Fawkes nodded his head and picked at the wands again. He then lifted up on leg and held it in front of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore held the wands next to Fawkes' leg and conjured a thin rope that twisted itself around Fawkes' leg, tying the wands tightly. Fawkes then lifted off and flew away from one of the numerous windows around Dumbledore's office.

  "Never in my life…" Dumbledore whispered.

  "Well, at least they stand a chance now." McGonagall said. "But we have to hurry."

  "Indeed." Dumbledore replied. "But there's no time to call in the Aurors."

  "What do we do then?" McGonagall asked.

  "We go after them ourselves." Dumbledore answered. "Snape can guide us there."


	11. Voldemort’s Revenge

**  A/N: **Sorry for the long wait. School, as always, had prevented me from writing, as well as the little number of reviews. I do hope that somewhere, someone is reading what I've taken so much time to write. 

  Having said that, there are some kind souls in this world who was so kind as to review my story, though I have the feeling that I'll be flamed for this chapter. Thanks for your reviews, Cygnus Crux and Mystical!

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belongs to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'.

Dreaming of you  
Chapter 11 

Voldemort's Revenge

  All Harry felt was cold; all he saw was darkness. Time seemed to have lost any meaning; all was the endless now. At first, Harry was surprised. Surprised at Ginny for pushing him into the mirror, and surprised at Star for allowing Ginny to come along. But soon, his underlying worry for Hermione, lying helpless in the hands of Voldemort, began to work it's way up through his mind. 

  "_Hermione, hold on!_" Harry thought in his heart. "_Help is on it's way._"

  Then there was light. A thin, wavering kind of light, to be sure, but light nonetheless, and very welcome in the darkness. Slowly the light took on shape, solidifying into a door that stood open. Nothing of the other side could be seen, just a white nothing. But Harry  knew that if he stepped across that door, he will be where Hermione was held. He was about to take that step when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulders. 

  Startled, Harry wheeled around to find out who it was, but tripped over his own feet as he turned, and fell, half-turned, through the doors.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~

  "A little rest now." Voldemort said, lowering his wand. He looked over at the huddled figure of Hermione, a small smile on his face. "Are you willing to tell me now? Is Harry willing to come for you?" He lifted his wand again. "Or would you like another dose of pain?"

  Hermione shivered. The pain still too great for her to make any answer. Fire still burned in her veins, and her lower lips was bloody from her biting it earlier. Slowly, however, she managed to sit up.

  "He wouldn't come." Hermione said, almost to herself, as she wrapped an arm around her knee miserably. "He got Ginny now, why would he come after me?"

  Voldemort had being leaning forward to hear Hermione's words, but now he sat back on his throne, a satisfied smile on his face. 

  "So that's how things stand…" Voldemort mused, the beginning of a plan formed inside his twisted mind. At first, all he wanted was to kill Harry Potter. Get him out of the picture, to dishearten the wizardry world that held on to the view that Harry Potter was the savior of them. Voldemort would show them that that was not the case. He had been defeated by mere chance, a freak accident, not by any contest of power or strength. Had not their dual the last they met proved that? Potter was a mere boy, a child! He was nothing compared to Lord Voldemort…

  But now, Voldemort has a new plan. Boy or not, Harry was the only one, other then Dumbledore, who had walked away from a dual with Voldemort alive. It wasn't enough to kill him now. Voldemort want to crush him. To destroy all whom he holds dear. To make his live a living hell, before finally granting him dead, in the most painful way he could think of. Yes… that's what Voldemort wants now. And to think the means to this plan had just been placed into his hands.

  Voldemort turned his gaze back at Hermione, who had seemed to have slipped into a world of her own, as she sat on the cold stone floor staring at nothing. "_Imperio_" whispered Voldemort, aiming his wand at her and slowly allowing the spell to enter Hermione's mind.

  ~~~~~~~~~~ 

  "Are we all ready then." Dumbledore asked, looking around in his office. Almost all the teachers within Hogwarts had gathered there, to plan a rescue operation. 

  "As ready as we could be." Professor McGonagall said. There was a general mummer of agreement from the other teachers.

  "But how are we going to get there?" Professor Flitwick asked in his squeaky voice, as he nervously fingered his wand. 

  "Severus?" Dumbledore asked, turning to the professor in question.

  "it's fairly simple." Snape said, waving his wand in the air in front of him. A diagram of Hogwarts and its surrounding grounds appeared in the wake of the wand like a holograph. "The place the Dark Lord is hiding is here, in this direction." Snape said, stabbing his wand at the place in the diagram representing the Quidditch field. "We just follow this line and we'll find the place sooner or later."

  "So what you mean is that we just fly from the Quidditch field away from Hogwarts and we'll find it?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulously.

  "Basically, yes." Snape answered, dispelling his diagram with another wave of his wand.

  "But that could take days! Months!" Professor Flitwick squeaked in protest. "We could spent the rest of our lives looking!"

  "Do you have a better idea?" Snape snapped angrily. "When the Dark Lord summon the death eaters, all I could get was a vague direction. And that's the closest I can make it."

  "Now, now." Dumbledore stepped between the two bickering professor. "This isn't the time to be fighting with each other."

  Grumbling a little, but obeying Dumbledore's mild stare, the two professors turned away from each other.

  "Now, time waits for no man, and Harry would certainly not wait for us. So I propose us starting at once." Dumbledore said. "I had taken the liberties of asking Madam Hooch to prepare each of us with a broom, so if all of you would be so good as to follow me…" Dumbledore opened the door of his office and stepped through. He had hardly reached the bottom of his moving staircase when Professor McGonagall caught hold of Dumbledore's robe sleeves. 

  "You know I can't fly, Albus!" Professor McGonagall whispered a little angrily.

  "Of course, my dear Minerva." Dumbledore said pleasantly. "I've already made arrangements for that. You don't think that I would leave the castle unguarded, do you?"

  "You want me to look after the castle?" Professor McGonagall asked, a little surprised. "All alone?"

  "One is enough." Dumbledore replied. "The castle's defenses are still working. They should be sufficient for any small scale attacks."

  Professor McGonagall nodded. "And if worse comes to worse, I can always recruit some of the seventh year students." She added.

  "Excellent idea, Minerva." Dumbledore approved. "But don't let them take on more then they can handle."

  "I'll be careful." Professor McGonagall promised.

  "Well then, I'll see you when I see you." Dumbledore waved a cheery goodbye as he stepped out of the stairway and rejoin the other professors in the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

  Hermione sat there in a blank, her mind numbed from the pain of Voldemort's curse. Her thoughts flirted about in any and every direction, but in the end they all turned back to the same thing.

  Harry.

  She could not, would not allow Harry to come to any harm. No matter what happen, Hermione had determined in her mind that Harry must not come to any harm. She would sacrifice her own life if needed to ensure his life. Now more then ever, with Voldemort not ten meters away from her, that she must be careful. Harry would come for her, she knew. They have been friends too long, with too many common experiences, for Harry to just give up on her. He will come. What was important was that Harry would walk out of this encounter alive.

  As she made up her mind, a strange calm seemed to come over her. She relaxed, as her pain seemed to melt away like ice under a hot sun. As she lay there, eyes half closed under the calm feeling, a voice came to her. 

  "_You do love Harry, right?_"

  "Wha…" Hermione gasped, raising her head a little and glancing about her. She saw no one that could have said anything. Malfoy was still by the door, nudging at Wormtail with his toe. Voldemort just sat in his throne, looking down at her, idly fingering his wand, but Hermione could see that it couldn't be him. His lips did not move as the voice continued.

  "_Don't worry. I mean you no harm._"

  "Who… who are you?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

  "_Do not speak out loud, but speak in your heart. I can't hear as well when you talk out loud._"

  "_Who are you?_" This time, Hermione asked the question in her mind. The answer came fast enough.

  "_I am a friend._"

  "_Where are you?_"

  "_Close by._"

  "_What do you mean by asking me if I love Harry?_" Hermione couldn't help but feel that the question was meaningless. Here was Voldemort himself, not ten meters away from her, and the voice was asking her about her love life?

  "_Because he is in danger right now._" The voice answered.

  "_What? But You-know-who is near me, and he isn't doing anything…_"

  "_The danger isn't from the Dark Lord._"

  "_Then where is it from?_" Hermione asked, barely able to resist lifting her head and looking around her.

  "_Near him. Who is closest to him now?_"

  "_His Girlfriend, I think._"

  "_This girlfriend… her name is Ginny Weasley?_"

  "_Yes… how did you know?_"

  "_Never mind that. The Danger is from her._"

  "_What? But how could it be?_"

  "_She is under the Imperius Curse, to betray Harry Potter at the last minute to the Dark Lord._"

  "_How can that be? Harry loved her!_"

  "_I know… This Ginny Weasley used a love potion on Harry Potter. It's so strong that Harry Potter would not even look at other people now."_

  "_What can I do to help him?_"

  "_Steel your heart, my dear. The only way is to kill her._"

  "_What! But…_"

  "_There is no other way!_" The voice insisted. For some reason, Hermione did not question the reliability of the voice. She accepted everything the voice told her.

  "_It's the only way to save Harry Potter from death._" The voice continued. "_If you love Harry Potter, you will do everything in your power to save him, wouldn't you?_"

  "_Yes… but Ginny! How can I kill her?_" Hermione cried out inside her mind. 

  "_It's the only way to save Harry Potter._" The voice repeated firmly. "_Or would you rather see Harry Potter die under the hands of the Dark Lord?_"

  "_Of course not!_" 

  "_Besides, this Ginny is a traitor now. Not her own fault, as she's under the Imperius Curse, but a traitor nonetheless._"

  "_There is no other way?_" Hermione asked again, dull resignation in her voice.

  "_None…_" 

  There was silence for a while…

  "_Ok…_" Hermione said at last. "_I understand…_"

~~~~~~~~~~

  Voldemort smiled then, a thin cold smile. Things were going according to plan. The fool Dumbledore would not expect this move. The Imperius Curse has many uses, the least of which to bend others will to your own. But that's only the most basic of its use. With the proper training, one can use the curse to make anyone believe anything one so desires. That's what makes the curse so dangerous.

  He stood up, long robes flowing down his skeleton thin frame. Aiming his wand at Hermione once more, he let lose a sudden dose of the Cruciatus curse. Hermione stiffen up in the sudden pain, but gave no other sight of pain. This girl had spirit, Voldemort had to give her that. But no matter. The trap is set. The bait is place. Now all that's left is the wait for Harry Potter to come… to his death. He released the curse, and the mudblood girl slumped forward, her strength sapped by the curse.

  Voldemort laughed then, a cold delighted laugh that chilled the blood. He will have his revenge!

  "Come, Malfoy, Wormtail." Voldemort cried out to his minions. "Let's go. This place stinks of Mudblood!"

~~~~~~~~~~ 

  Barely had the great wooden doors boom shut behind Voldemort when a line of light appeared in the middle of the room. This line rapidly expanded until a square could be seen in the room. Out of this square, Harry dropped out, landing on his back with a bang. Groaning, Harry pushed himself onto his elbows. But before he could seat up properly, the square spit out another person, then disappear as rapidly as it appeared. For the second time, Harry found himself on his back, Ginny on him.

  "Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny asked in concern, looking about in the gloomily light for any sight of Harry.

  "If you would get up, I'll be better." Harry said from under her.

  "Oh, sorry." Ginny scampered to her knees and helped Harry seat up. "Are you alright?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine." Harry replied, rubbing his head. "Where are we?"

  "I don't know." Ginny answered. "Some kind of chambers, I guess."

  "Is Hermione around?" Harry asked as he tried to stand. Swaying a little, Harry stumbled a few steps forward, his eyes searching for any sight of Hermione. Almost at once, his eyes alight on someone on the floor, someone with bushy hair. "Hermione?"

  "Is that her?" Ginny had also stood up, and was also peering at the place Harry was looking at.

  "I think so." Harry answered. "Let's go see."

  They walked slowly towards the person lying there, each alert for any sound. When they reached the person, Ginny kneed down next to her and gently lifted the hair that covered the face. 

  "It's Hermione." Ginny cried out.

  "Thank Merlin." Harry breathed a sigh of relief before kneeing on the other side of Hermione. He gently shook Hermione by the shoulders. "Hermione? Wake up, Hermione."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Hermione stirred, someone calling her from above her. The pain was still burning in her, duller now, unlike the sharp pain when Voldemort cast the spell. Slowly her eyes opened, to see a pair of bright green eyes looking down at her. 

  "Thank Merlin you're ok." She heard Harry's voice say. And her heart jumped at his voice. '_He came for me!'_

  "Yeah. Isn't it great." Another voice agreed with Harry. Hermione felt her eyes narrow at that voice. Ginny Weasley.

  With a sudden burst of strength, Hermione pushed away their arms and jumped up, spinning around at the same time to face them both.

  "You! Ginny! How could you!?" Hermione shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Ginny.

  "How could I what?" Ginny asked, a little puzzled. "We came to rescue you."

  "Traitor!" Hermione cried out angrily. Her arms shot out and she shouted out the words of the deadliest curse ever. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

  And Harry watch in confusion as the green jet of light busted forth from Hermione's hands and hit Ginny full on the face…


	12. Phoenix's song

**A/N: **Another chapter done. This story is almost reaching its end. Another chapter or two should do the trick.

  To bucky: no, I am **not **on crack, whatever that is… I know exactly what I am doing. Have a little faith in me, will you? I said it would be H/G, so that's what it will be… 

  To Cygnus Crux: yes, I know what I got myself into. But frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed. I thought more people would flame the last chapter, but only one did. Makes you wonder if anyone is still reading this thing…?

  To mystical: thanks for the support. I agree with you on the review part, but I think that the period of time that fanfic.net was down had caused some people to lose interest in my old story, don't you think?

  On with the story! Hope you will like this chapter. And a little hint for the next chapter. Think Phoenix and reviving. Anyone who had played the final fantasy series would know what I'm talking about.

  **Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belongs to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'.

Dreaming of you  
Chapter 12 

Phoenix's song

  "Ginny?" Harry asked tentatively, his voice breaking the dead silence that had filled the room after Hermione had cast that dreadful spell. "Come on now. Stop lying there. We have to get back to the castle."

  Ginny did not answer. She just lay there, a looking of surprise on her face, her red hair fanning out around her. Harry slowly dropped to his knees beside Ginny, his hands reaching out to her. Gently he shook her, then harder when she did not respond. 

  "Ginny? Wake up." Harry whispered, tight desperation in his voice. "This is no time to sleep. Wake up. We have to get out of here."

  Again she did not answer. Her head bopped about as Harry shook her, but she did not make any other move. In sudden despair Harry pulled Ginny close to him, hugging her tightly.

  "Harry?" Hermione said in a small voice. She laid a hand on Harry's shoulders, but Harry jerked his shoulders out of the way as soon as he felt it.

  "Why?" He whispered, pain filled his voice. His head whipped around to pin Hermione with his gaze. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill her?"

  "She was a traitor, Harry." Hermione explained, taken aback at the sight of his eyes, red with unshed tears. "She will betray you to Voldemort."

  "What are you talking about?" Harry asked, his voice was void of any emotion, letting his face drop down his chest, arms still cradling Ginny. "She would not do that…"

  "She will, Harry. Don't you see?" Hermione replied, laying her hand on Harry again. This time he allowed it to remain. "She was under the Imperius Curse. She was _commanded_ to fall in love with you!"

  "That's impossible…" Harry whispered, his eyes narrowing. "No one could do that… We were in Tel'anran'rhiod… Nothing can fake that."

  "It's true!" Hermione cried, desperate for Harry to believe her. "The voice told me!"

  "The voice?" Harry asked, head still down. "What voice?"

  Harry waited, but there was no answer. Then he felt the hand on his shoulders slip away, trailing down his back, all the way to the floor, and a heard a 'thud'. Wearily, Harry lifted his head, but Hermione wasn't in her previous position. She had collapsed onto the ground.

  "Hermione?" Harry lifted his free hand and gave her a poke. She did not stir. 

  "Welcome!" Another voice rang out behind him. Harry felt his blood ran cold. He had heard that voice before…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Welcome to my humble home, Potter." Voldemort cried out, almost chortling with gee at the sight of the bleak anguish on Harry's face. "I wasn't expecting you so early. I thought you would take longer to find your way here."

  "What did you do to Hermione?" Harry demanded, his voice raising as anger momentary override his grief.

  "Nothing, really." Voldemort answered lightly, as he strolled to his throne. "She did it all by herself."

  "What do you mean?" Harry asked again, as Voldemort sat down on his throne.

  "I merely gave some suggestion to the mudblood there." Voldemort answered good-naturedly, leaning back onto the back of his throne. "Ever heard of the Imperius Curse?"

  Harry's eyes widen as Voldemort's meaning sank in. "You… You used Hermione to kill Ginny!"

  "Yes, that's right." Voldemort confirmed it, a slight smile on his face.

  "But why?" Harry asked despairingly. "Your quarrel is with me. Why kill Ginny? And why Hermione?"

  "Because it will crush you." Voldemort replied, his voice had suddenly gone cold and hard. "Your best friend killing your girlfriend. It will break you, and I didn't even have to try very hard."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I know that your class had experience in resisting the Imperius Curse. Why do you think this mudblood fell so quickly?" He paused for a few moments, waiting for Harry to answer. When no answers came, Voldemort continued. "Because of love! Because she loved you!" 

  By this time, Voldemort was so excited that he jumped up and paced in front of his throne. "Feelings are such fickle things, don't you think?" He said, his voice growing louder as he went along. "The mudblood loved you, so she dislike anything that got in the way. Normally she would not have done anything, but after just a little encouragement, see what she's capable of."

  "But you are the one that was controlling her actions, weren't you?" Harry asked desperately. "You put her under the Imperius Curse, didn't you?"

  "The desire was hers." Voldemort replied, his voice dropping to almost a whisper, but Harry had no difficulty hearing what he was saying. "All I did was to give her an excuse to do what she wanted to do."

  "But why would you go to all that trouble?" Harry asked. "Wouldn't it be faster to just kill me direct?"

  "Of course it would. But what's the fun in that?" Voldemort answered, as he returned to his seat. "I want to see you suffer, to see you in pain. I want you to _pay _for causing me to lose my body for fourteen years!"

  "You wouldn't get away with this." Harry grounded out from clenched teeth. "Dumbledore is on his way here as we speak."

  "And you would be long dead, Potter!" Voldemort pulled out his wand as he spoke. "Prepare to die, Potter! _Crucio!_"

  Encumber as he was with both Ginny and Hermione, there was almost nothing Harry could do to avoid the curse. The curse hit him full on the chest, and his world busted into flames. It was almost as if someone threw him into a volcano that was just about to erupt. His past experience with the curse was nothing compared to this. His skin burned and his blood boiled. It was all he could do not to scream out in pain, but he would not give Voldemort that satisfaction. He clamped his teeth onto a fold of his robes, biting with all his might, straining to keep the cry growing in his throat from coming out.

  "Pain is like a disease, Potter." Harry heard this seemingly from a long way off. The pain was messing with his hearing. "Long before Dumbledore can even find this place, you would be dead! Dead from pain!"

  And yet, even as he heard Voldemort shouted out that last part, the pain began to ease. Then Harry heard a cry, a wild, ethereal music that he had heard only once before. The whole room seemed to be filled with the sound, echoing again and again within the confined area.

  Then the ceiling caved in, as if a giant hammer had smashed against it, and the room shook. Dust began to fall from the cracks between the huge blocks of stone that formed the ceiling. Again the ceiling shook, again the dust fell. And that unearthly music rose again to a fevered pitch, sending sharp stabs of pain into Voldemort's mind, so much that he cried out and dropped his wand, clutching his head in pain.

  But to Harry, the music did not hurt him. In fact, it seemed to strengthen him. The music supported him, lifting him up. The grief that was in his heart melted away, and Harry felt a peace came onto him, almost like those times when he had sat in the common room with Ginny, just the two of them, talking about nothing in particular. Despite the fact that Ginny still laid heavy in his arms, Harry had a sudden feeling that everything was going to be all right. 

  As he sat listening to the music, a bemused smiled on his face, the music rose yet again, reaching to such a pitch that had there been any glass within the chambers, they would have shattered under the assault of sound waves. Then, as suddenly as it came, the music vanished, leaving behind a ragged echo in the room. Then the room shook again, and the ceiling busted, breaking apart as a fireball entered through the hole. The fireball streaked down past Voldemort and Harry, then up again to hover near the hole it created. It began to swell, growing like a balloon being blown. A second later, the fireball busted, and Fawkes the phoenix appeared in the chambers, flaring its red-and-gold wings.

  Voldemort slowly climbed to his feet, his breathing ragged. "Cursed Phoenix!" He cried angrily. "What are you doing here?"

  Fawkes ignored Voldemort, flying lower and lower until it landed on Harry's shoulders. Not opening his eyes, Harry reached up to stroke Fawkes.

  "You…!" Voldemort gnashed his teeth in anger, then he raised his wand and cried out, "_Avada Kedavra!_" aiming his wand at the phoenix.

  Alarmed, Harry snapped open his eyes, only to see that dreadful green ray of light rushing towards him. Before he could even move, however, something appeared in front of him. Harry watched opened-mouth as Fawkes almost disdainfully flicked the deadly spell away with one wing, causing it to smash harmlessly into the wall.

  If Harry was surprised, it was nothing compared to what Voldemort felt. Almost since his raise as the Dark Lord, he had been able to steamrolled over any opposition with the use of this one curse. Only once had it failed him, when he was trying to kill young Potter. But now, a mere creature had deflected the deadliest weapon he had. For one whole minute, Voldemort stood staring at the phoenix, before coming back to himself. Then he vanished, apparated away.

  ~~~~~~~~~~ 

  Voldemort ran through the underground tunnels of his lair, trying to gather his thoughts. He had apparated himself back to his bedroom, gasping and winded. He had just remembered his lessons from so very long away, back when he was in Hogwarts, when he was just Tom Riddle. Back to what his Care for Magical Creatures professor had said about phoenixes. 

  "Phoenixes are creatures of fire," Voldemort remembered. "And of life. They are the bane of the Dark Arts, because of the magic in them, the magic to return to life. The killing curse cannot harm them, for how can a creature that can return to life as the phoenix does be killed? But there is a limit to the phoenix's magic too. Too many killing curses, and not even the phoenix have enough magic to survive. But no one would want to kill a phoenix, right?" 

  The class had laughed then, Voldemort remembered. But that memory had given him a new plan. To overwhelm that cursed phoenix with so many curses that even it must die. 

  But for that to happen, he would need his death eaters…

~~~~~~~~~~ 

  They were flying above the Forbidden Forest, following the direction that Snape had pointed out to then when Snape sudden gave a cry of pain, and nearly fell out of his broom in pain.

  "What happened?" Dumbledore called out, as Snape climb back on to his broom. 

  Snape did not answer. When he managed to return himself to his broom, he just rolled up his sleeves and held up his right arm. The Dark Mark burned black on his skin.

  "Can you sense where to go?" Dumbledore asked, when he saw the Mark.

  Snape nodded and turned his broom, facing a slightly different direction from the one they had been following, and flew off at top speed, the other professors following a little behind.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

  "That was amazing, Fawkes!" Harry said, amazement in his voice. "How did you do that?"

  Fawkes gave a soft cry and rubbed its head against Harry. Harry glance down at the phoenix, and a little farther down, at the red hair that was spread over his legs. His good feelings dropped right out of him, as his heart went cold again. Ginny… she was still dead. Fawkes had came too late.

  Fawkes cried again, a sad cry as it looked down at Ginny. Harry was surprised to see tears in Fawkes' eyes. Seeing Fawkes' eyes brought his own tears stinging at his eyes. Quite suddenly, all that had happen caught up with Harry and he broke down, sobbing over Ginny. The sadness rose in his heart, so much that he felt it choking him. This was worse then anything he had ever experience, this soul-deep grief that he was feeling now.

  How long Harry sat there, weeping his heart out, he didn't know. But suddenly Fawkes raised his head in alarm, calling softly. Harry lifted his tear-streaked face up, and froze. Standing at the doorway was Voldemort, behind him about fifteen people, robed and masked. The death eaters!

  "Get him!" Voldemort shrieked, pointing his wand at the phoenix again. "_Avada Kedavra!_" 

  A green jet of light shot towards Harry, Fawkes being just beside him, followed by fifteen more. Before Harry knew what was happening, a large wing shoved him aside, just as he saw the green jets hit Fawkes. The phoenix cried out in pain, but it did not fall. 

  "Again!" Voldemort shouted. And another stream of green lights busted from the wands of the death eaters. Again the green lights hit Fawkes, and again it withstood it. But this time, Fawkes staggered back a few steps, its chest smoking from the curses. 

  Desperate, Voldemort drew back his arm for another attempt, but before he could shout out the curse again, a commanding voice roared above them.

  "STOP!!!"

  Surprised, Harry looked up, to see Dumbledore and the other professors floating over them on their broomsticks, Professor Flitwick appearing in the hole that Fawkes had made its entrance in, now noticeably larger. In all the confusion of green lights, no one had noticed the Hogwarts' professors appearing.

  As Harry gazed at Dumbledore, a new feeling entered his heart. A feeling he had not dared to feel earlier. Hope.


	13. Bye!

A/N : Just a note to say that this story is finish. I will not be continuing it. It's the end. This acc will not appear any more. It has been fun knowing everyone. Good bye 


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